Hi There . . .
In the spirit of the red, white and blue, take a gander at these hair on hair hide works of art The beauty of these pieces, and every other style, pattern and color available, continue to amaze me (showcased more styles and colors here). Who is this creator? Kyle Bunting. Get your Star Spangle Banner on .
all photos snagged from Kyle Bunting's site
I recently read an interview Claudia Juestel (founder and principal of Adeeni Design Group and Design & Architecture editor of SFLuxe) had with Kyle back in 2011. I especially loved learning the back story on just where the idea of his future business started, hatched, and launched. I am always in awe of people who can take a great idea and persevere to actually turn it into something truly amazing and successful !
"My parents were both from central North Carolina, and on my mom’s side of the family, my grandfather and uncles were high-end wood workers. They did custom furniture and millwork. These were the guys that you brought in for the insanely complicated, very expensive work. So my dad had this crazy idea. He told them, “Hey, build me some table frames and I’ll glue them together and stain them. And then, because I keep getting these milk rings all over our furniture from the boys, and I’m tired of hearing their mother complain about it, and I’m tired of it ruining our good furniture, I will cover them in something more durable”. He took a piece of plywood and went to a leather place and asked for the most warp-resistant and durable leather they had. They turned him on to some cowhide leather, and he bought it. He started cutting it up into little pieces, glued it onto the plywood, and dropped it into the interior of a frame, and the table was done. I was about ten years old and I remember that all of our friends and neighbors thought that it was a really cool idea and looked pretty neat.
My dad also used to drag me around, and we would take the tables and go to rodeos and shows in Texas where they were selling oil equipment and things like that. Bankers, ranchers, and oil guys would say, “Wow, that’s a Western-looking cowhide table top, I’ll take two!” So my dad would get my uncles to make the frames, and he would make the tops. So, fast-forward 25 years when I caught the design bug. I had some old pieces and things my dad had done for me, and I had just met my future wife Libby. And without going too far down that really corny lane, she is my muse for me, my real inspiration. Libby just brings it out of me."
So back in the day, these hides were designed and created in their true natural palette of earth tones. Beautiful then and now, but Claudia learned from Kyle it was Cheryl Rowley who sparked the color direction and "opened his world." Kyle went on to say ". . . she taught me to be wide open as to what could be possible with color and teaching me to trust designers."
These amazing pieces of art are made by hand in their studio in Austin, Texas, in a surprising six weeks or less. Kyle - I want nothing more than an 8x10 multi color Kabash before I die. You inspire me as well with your pattern and color combinations!
