percent coverage of the gun, a very basic, routine type of engraving.
Where is your work space?
I built a studio next door to my home, about seven hundred square feet. I have north-facing windows for the best light, and I can look out and see deer on the property.
Are you passing the trade on to your kids?
My son Billy is a musician—he’s working on his first CD. In the fifties my dad, Big Bill Lister, was a Capitol recording artist and on the Grand Ole Opry. He opened for Hank Williams. So Billy’s following in his footsteps. My four-year-old grandson, Bentley, is interested in engraving, though.
Chuck Lee Banjo Company
Principal: Chuck Lee | Location: Ovilla
For the past eleven years, former master plumber Chuck Lee has been handcrafting some of the most sought-after open-back banjos in the country. Lee got his first banjo when a music store paid him for a plumbing job with one, and from that moment on he was hooked. Today he builds them in a humidity-controlled studio (actually a converted plumbing shop) in his backyard, working alongside his wife of 34 years, Tamara, and, at various times, each of their seven children. Lee’s banjos are made from maple, cherry, and walnut, which he buys from the local lumberyard, and they’re easily recognizable by the inlays on the necks and pegheads: crescent moons, dragons, and flowers, which he creates using mother-of-pearl, stone, and abalone. Of course, the instruments sound as good as they look. Lee tweaks each one for depth and warmth, producing that fundamentally American banjo sound. chuckleebanjos.com
How did you learn to make banjos?
I’ve never been trained in woodworking. I didn’t own any woodworking tools. I just taught myself and bought all the tools
and equipment. It was a huge learning curve, but I’m very focused. When I’m on to a new thing, I’m on it. I get absorbed.
Why does it take three to four months to get one of your banjos?
I pride myself on customer service and detail. Sometimes I’ll spend thirty minutes on the phone with a customer, or sometimes it’s forty emails and four hours on the phone. I tailor each banjo for each person. We’ve sold every banjo we’ve ever made, most of them before we’ve even finished them.
How does the rim affect the sound?
I’ve got ten models that come in two or three different sizes, and eight of these models have different tone rings. The bigger, the taller, and the thinner the rim is, the warmer the sound.
Has music always appealed to you?
Yes. When I started playing banjo and learning about the instrument, I discovered open-back banjos and old-time music. It’s really the music of the people and mostly played by folks sitting around in groups. All our kids play music. Our oldest is 32 and our youngest is 13, and they’re all artists in some way or another. They have their looks from their mother—thank goodness—and their creativity from me.
Are you really a Santa on the side?
I’m a professional, real-beard Santa. I also sew most of my Santa clothes. I do parties and corporate events and home visits—I show up and read stories and sing songs. I started doing it three years ago, with Lone Star Santas Charities. We go to West or Cleburne or Granbury and minister to children anywhere there’s been a disaster. We go in as second responders and bring gifts to children. We’re FEMA-approved.
Libby Lane Leather Goods
Principal: Libby Lane | Location: Bushland
The best design comes from knowing when to stop, and that’s a skill Libby Lane, a 2009 graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, has perfected. Her handbags, wallets, clutches, and totes are deceptively simple, made of the same water-repellent leather typically used for chaps, with brass feet and tiny stud closures as the only hardware. Working in a restored bunkhouse on the three-thousand-acre ranch where she grew up, Lane makes each bag by herself, taking five days to scissor the leather, paint the edges, sew it all together, and then put her name on the final piece. Her austere aesthetic is a throwback to a time when only two things mattered: Does it work? Will it last? Yes and yes. That straightforward, nostalgic approach, combined with artful stitching patterns, is what makes her work truly exciting. libbylane.com
How did you become interested in making things?
I come from a lot of artists. My father is a geologist, but he’s a sculptor and painter as well, and two of my sisters also went to the Art Institute of Chicago.
What are your days like?
Yesterday I worked cattle, and then I came in and did my work. Usually when I get done sewing, I go outside and garden, and then I go back in and sew some more. But every day is different.
Is music playing when you design?
Yeah, stuff like Neil Young, Billie Holiday, and Fleetwood Mac. But I really like to listen to books on tape. I relisten to Lonesome Dove constantly, as well as Henry James and Jane Austen.
What’s your work space like?
My great-grandfather bought the ranch right after the Dust Bowl, and he built the bunkhouse for his workers in the forties. It’s been converted, with Saltillo tiles and concrete in the main room, but it still feels like an old space.
Who lives on the ranch now?
I live in the bunkhouse, and my parents live in the main house. I have five sisters, so this is like a family compound that everyone comes and goes from.
How much are your designs influenced by your surroundings?
A lot. It’s very peaceful out here. It’s been really nice to be home.