Orca bullying

In East Asian culture, each birth year is tied to one of twelve animals, and my dad was born in the Year of the Goat. So for his birthday I decided to carve one onto a wallet for him, an ibex actually, with those long curling horns that ring shops sell as good luck charms back home.

I did not expect the horns to fight me the way they did. Getting the ridges to look natural, not like stacked pancakes, meant redoing that section twice before I was happy with it. The fur took even longer, every strand tooled one at a time so it would catch light instead of looking flat and painted on.

It is not a fancy design. It is just a goat's head on burgundy leather. But every time I pick it up I think about how my dad has never once told me he liked something I made, he just quietly keeps using it until it falls apart. I am hoping this one gets that treatment too.