Name of the crafter/artist: Diamante / Deimantas Zinkus.
Contact info: Facebook: @DiamanteArtesanía En El Cuero, diamante.artesania@gmail.com, +34622 88 44 63
Country: Spain
About the artist:
Hi! My name is Diamond. It’s my name translated from my original Lithuanian name – Deimantas.
8 years ago I have started traveling and wandering the lands of Andalucía, Cadiz. It was the first time when i started to work with leather, by learning how to do 4 strap bracelets. Then, my journey continued and I arrived in Tenerife, Canary Islands. One day I have visited Masca (a spectacular village in the north of the island) where, by chance, I have met a person – Colin and I have remained to live at his farm, with my partner and my dog. And for some months we received food and accommodation while working at the farm.
Before, Colin was a leather craftsman, and he was still doing crafts, but no more working with leather. So, one morning, he brings me two boxes and on one of them it was written “SHIT”, where he had pieces of leather. In the other one there were tools to work with it. So this is how I started to explore my creativity, learning techniques and creating things that always impressed me.
I remember that I made my first snuffbox, the best piece of my carrier, for real, there’s no other like that.
After some months I started to try my luck selling the pieces of crafts I was creating. Having success and motivation, I pushed myself to try more.
So until today I keep on working with leather, I even have received a certification as a craftsman in Tenerife.
I really thank all the people/craftsmen, especially to Colin, for teaching me some tricks, giving advices and supporting my passion.
