Meet the Artist

Callie Kellem is a custom leather smith living in Pray Montana in the beautiful Paradise Valley. She is well rounded through her world travels, experience in many different trades such as construction and mechanics, wilderness exploration and aviation. One may think all of these credentials seem unrelated (and she has thought the same), but all have had their influence on her lifelong devotion to leatherwork. With experience in several different cultural styles of horsemanship including English, Western, Mongolian and others, she has integrated varying ideas and styles into her own unique approach to leather smithing.

 

Callie was four years old when she first began tinkering with leather tools. As saddle shop owners in Gardiner, Montana, her parents would issue her a hunk of leather and some stamping tools in lieu of the more typical paper and crayons.

Growing up she was given tasks such as cleaning and oiling saddles; finishing edges on various leather projects, cleaning the shop area and many other useful jobs. At sixteen, with the guidance of her father, Callie made her first saddle, and at age 18 designed and made her first full carved show saddle; a feat most saddle makers don’t experience until later in their career.

Spirited and curious, Callie chose a path all her own in the art of leather work.  She is still proficient in the world of traditional western leather such as saddles and tack but has also developed her own style and flair expressed through leather fashion items, artwork and home décor.

 

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Her Parents Les, and Carol Kellem opened Kellem’s Montana Saddlery in the small town of Gardiner Montana at the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park on Memorial Day in 1984.  After nearly 40 years the store is still operating as the oldest and last authentic shop in Gardiner.

Les is retired from saddle making and now expresses his artistic talent through painting.  Carol still runs the store in the busy summer months and still makes authentic leather goods to sell in the store alongside many beautiful authentic gifts and clothing.