3 minute read
DON GONZALES SADDLERY - Visit with Moulton’s local leather artisan.
LOCAL CRAFTSMAN
Texas saddlemaker and leather artist Don Gonzales recently chose an old shoe shop in downtown Moulton as home for his craft. With roots in the area, Gonzales relocated his family from College Station to the small Texas town and never looked back.
“My mom and dad moved here in 2010,” said Gonzales. “And then, unfortunately, Dad passed away in 2013. Mom’s been here ever since so we spent a lot of time down here and really liked Moulton, always enjoying our visits. When our little girl was about to start Kindergarten, we looked into school districts, and it was an easy decision to choose Moulton. Things just fell into place.”
And finding a location for Gonzales to move his leathercraft business to seemed to fall right into place, as well.
“Two or three years ago, we first sat on the front porch of what was Rudy’s Shoe Shop years prior,” shared Gonzales. “At that time, the 1897 building wasn’t available. I’d always look through the window and think it would make a cool saddle shop. I wanted to be downtown and, when the shop did become available, things just lined up and we agreed to give it a go. Since it was home to the shoe shop for years, I feel like the old building breathed a sigh of relief that another leather craftsman was moving in.”
Although Gonzales has a strong passion and a long history of building custom saddles, today it is the teaching of his craft that motivates him most in his work.
“Five or six years ago, we started a YouTube account and kind of threw a few videos up there,” added Gonzales. “They got a few views and we had fun making the videos. Then we started offering a few patterns on our website and selling the digital file of the artwork, because learning to draw is the hardest part. I can teach anybody to do the leatherwork part but learning to actually do the artwork, that takes a lifetime to learn. Ha, I’m still learning! Recently, we’ve expanded to offering actual material packs and people can tie it in with a workshop video, making their own MOULTON, TEXAS | 10
LOCAL CRAFTSMAN
belt, wallet, purse or whatever. We have lots of patterns for different items.”
Gonzales’ desire to pass his craft on to others was originally fueled by his mentor, Jim Plantt, when he worked with him in College Station.
“I apprenticed with him when I was in college at A&M,” said Gonzales. “When I was a senior, I applied to vet school and didn’t get in. So, I had to graduate, and I really didn’t have a second plan. I was arrogant enough to think that I was going to be a vet, no need for a ‘Plan B.’ I needed to make some money, so I thought I’d go make some saddles. I’d been tooling leather since I was in eighth grade and so I went to work for Jim. He’s who I ended up buying my shop from when I first got started on my own. My apprenticeship was a hard knocks kind of thing, just thrown to the wolves. I learned so much during that time because we sat across the bench from each other building saddles together. I was very fortunate to have that opportunity because most people don’t. When he sold the shop to me, I was 24 years old and was like ‘What can go wrong? I was broke when I got here.’ When he left, he said that the only thing he asked of me is that I teach someone else one day, pass it down to somebody. A lot of people kept the knowledge very secretive back in the day. That used to be the way the saddle industry was. It’s funny that I never really thought I would be focusing on teaching and now, that’s what we do. It’s just the way it turned out. I feel like Jim would be happy with that.”
Gonzales runs Don Gonzales Saddlery with his wife, Claudia. The storefront is located at 110 South Main and online at www.dgsaddlery.com. Listeners can also follow his podcast, Lost Trade with Don Gonzales, on Spotify or his website.
