Clair Kehrberg (John Day) is a master leatherworker, gear maker, and saddle maker. She grew up in eastern Oregon’s ranch country and continues to ranch with her husband in John Day. Kehrberg is well-known for her intricate leather work and brings her skills to chinks and chaps as well as to elegantly hand-tooled leather briefcases, handbags, earrings, and more.
Bio
Clair Kehrberg is a master leatherworker, gear maker, and saddle maker. She grew up in eastern Oregon's ranch country near John Day, where she continues to ranch with her husband. Kehrberg was a baby the first time she was on a horse and grew up running cattle, working with horses, and doing a variety of ranch work. With a love of horses and generations of ranching in her family, Clair Kehrberg decided to become a Saddlemaker. Kehrberg apprenticed first with Tom Berry Custom Saddlery, a well-known saddle maker; she also learned from Dale Harwood, another well-known master saddle maker, and bootmaker Mo Welfl. Kehrberg attended Spokane Community College in Washington, a 2-year program in saddle making and leather work; her teacher there was Verlane DeGrange. After finishing up school with Verlane, she apprenticed Randy Severe in Pendleton OR. DeGrange, Kehrberg recalls, "was incredibly meticulous and she enjoyed the artistry... And from her, I would say, is where I really got my good foundation... [starting] with hand stitching. Once you mastered that, you moved up to machines stitching... Once you mastered that, then you were able to start stamping and tooling.” A methodical and “very good teacher,” DeGrange made sure that her students built saddles, they started by making “the patterns for every single piece that goes on [a saddle]." Kehrberg has made about 20 saddles herself, and each takes at least 2 weeks full-time to make. She made quite an elaborate saddle as a wedding present for her husband, but, after the birth of her daughter, she’s focused on smaller projects such as intricately tooled bags, wallets, plaques, purses, and earrings. She particularly enjoys making the large leather plaques (custom work) for mounting animal skulls. Clair Kehrberg, an experienced teacher, is extremely articulate about her craft, how she learned, from whom she learned, and the intricacies of leatherwork. In 2021, she became a master artist in the Oregon Folklife Network’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, for which she is mentoring her apprentice in the finer points of making and carving chaps, chinks, and other gear. Kehrberg creates her own designs, from sketching to completion of a piece. She sells on Facebook and Etsy as well as in local shops when they are open.
