Beth Dow

My name is Beth Dow, and I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, where I’m a visual artist and leatherworker.

My leather business is Fieldwork Goods, and I use traditional processes to make useful and durable leather bags by hand. I taught myself how to sew leather because I couldn’t find the kinds of bags and cases that I wanted to buy. These skills give me the freedom to make what I need, and I love the dimensional problem-solving of designing new patterns. I teach several leather workshops a year, and the most recent schools were the Penland School of Craft and North House Folk School. In my course you will learn to make a small tote bag, picking up skills that will enable you to make all kinds of other leather goods, from wallets to handbags.

I’m also a visual artist working with digital and film photography. My photographs have been exhibited around the world, and I teach photography at a local university. My studio is split right down the middle, with visual art occupying half, and leatherwork in the other half. Some days I make images, and other days I make useful objects, and the slow, meditative process of sewing leather by hand offers a restoring break from spending hours at the computer editing photographs. My motto is: Make it like you mean it.

Education: MFA (Photography), University of Minnesota

Follow me on Instagram!
Leatherwork: @fieldworkgoods
Photography: @bethdow