By Johnny D. Boggs

Alan Bell with his 2017 Academy of Western Artists Will RogersBootmaker of the Year Award.

Some folks might think that Alan Bell picked the wrong profession. Instead of making custom cowboy boots, which Bell has Read more

By Johnny D. Boggs

Deana McGuffin works on a pair of boots in her shop.

Custom bootmaker does not even begin to describe Deana McGuffin.

Certainly, since starting an apprenticeship with her father in the early 1980s, she has Read more

Evolving with the Times

By Liisa Andreassen

Third-generation owner Charles Jackson says they sell a lot of used saddles, especially Buckaroo-type saddles.

When I visited Jackson’s Western Store in Asheville, North Carolina, a few days before this past Christmas, Read more

The Success Story of Cardinal Shoe

American manufacturer finds its niche in high-tech ballet shoes

Photograph Courtesy of Eduardo Patina

By Lynn Ascrizzi

In an on-stage solo, principal ballerina,Michaela DePrince, flies like a bright-feathered, gravity-defying bird, her arms stretched Read more

By Nick Pernokas

Saddle maker and boot maker Don Atkinson in his later years surrounded by the things he loved including his beloved Dachshund, Abby.

The Missouri field looked like a board game, with its neat windrows of hay Read more