Rodney Kindlund has been an artist, designer, and leather craftsman since he began handcrafting leather goods from his own studio in Central California in the 1970s. His interest in art and design began at an early age, even though being raised on a ranch meant daily chores in between enjoying his art. Since the 1980s, the artist has been writing poetry, which reveals much of his early life on the ranch and those everyday experiences.

Self-taught in the art of hand-tooled leather, the artist has continued to practice his art, creating objects from the functional to aesthetic. His woodcarving interest began at a young age when he hand carved a civil war musket for a grammar school project.

Since moving to North Carolina in 1997, Rodney has organized his artistic talents into establishing a studio from his home in Alexander. He creates his leather-art under the RodKraft Studio name for sale by word-of-mouth and through custom orders for his art and design services.

On April 1, 2001, Rodney became a member of the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild in Asheville, North Carolina as a leather artist. Each year the Guild exclusively juries new members from the nine southern and border States that lie within the Appalachian Mountains.

The artist’s work was on exhibit at the New Members Show at the Folk Art Center in Asheville during the summer of 2001. Rodney also exhibited at a special year-long showing in 2002 at the Appalachian Regional Commission offices in Washington, DC.