Quote from Lisa Sorrell: “Creating a pair of boots for permanent display as art in Oklahoma State Capitol is an amazing opportunity for me personally, and for the craft of cowboy boot making. Cowboy boots are a uniquely American art form and style of footwear, but they’ve not been researched and documented like other forms of Craft. This is my opportunity to make something that will last and represent me and my craft for years. I hope that this pair of boots will inspire others to be curious about cowboy boots — how they came to be, who made them, and the history they represent. I’ve been making cowboy boots for over thirty years now and this experience will be my legacy. I want visitors to the State Capitol to see that cowboy boots are functional art. A pair of cowboy boots, made by a cowboy boot maker, are footwear designed to be used and worn. But they’re unique in that their history allowed and encouraged self-expression through the decorative work on the boot tops. The art on cowboy boot tops is not functional; it exists solely as a celebration of the wearer’s personality and style. The art on cowboy boot tops is created with leather inlay and overlay, surrounded and held by stitching. Every color is a different piece of leather — there’s no painting. Bespoke boot makers such as myself create art with leather in a way that no machine can replicate. We work within the boundaries of the medium, we look to the past and the history of cowboy boots for inspiration, but we also explore new and current ideas and themes. I hope visitors who see these boots will appreciate the tradition of cowboy boot making in the US while also realizing the joyful future of this craft.”
Quote from Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Amber Sharples: “We are excited about adding Lisa Sorrell’s handmade custom Oklahoma boots to the Capitol Art Collection, and we think they will be greeted with a lot of enthusiasm by the thousands of people who visit the historic space each year. While the iconic Oklahoma symbols embedded in the intricate details of Lisa’s boots are meaningful, playful, and engaging, the tactile quality of the boots themselves represent qualities Oklahomans will relate to. They suggest a rugged work ethic grounded in a relationship to our land that continues to be as present today as in days past.”
Bio: Lisa Sorrell is an awardwinning artist working in the medium of leather. She builds cowboy boots in her shop in Guthrie, working from flat pieces of leather and the client’s measurements, and using hand tools and vintage machinery. She maintains a portfolio of original designs and is well-known in the boot making world for her design skills. Her work offers fresh ways to examine the art of the cowboy boot within the context of heritage and tradition. She creates dialog through interplay of color, texture and technique, preserving tradition and keeping consistent with pioneers of the craft by interpreting vintage designs in contemporary and modern ways. Raised in a conservative, small church where the ladies all wore long hair and long dresses, she began sewing clothing at age 12 and by age 15 was sewing clothing professionally. At age 20, newly married and transplanted to Oklahoma, she answered an ad placed in the local newspaper for someone to “stitch boot tops.” She’d never worn cowboy boots, didn’t realize that people could make footwear, and never been around anyone who drank alcohol or swore. The learning curve was steep but the craft of cowboy boot making beckoned as destiny. Lisa enjoys speaking about cowboy boots and cowboy boot making, and she also teaches and writes on the topic of cowboy boots, footwear, and creating art with leather.
Internationally known bootmaker Lisa Sorrell, a Guthrie resident, points out the many uniquely Oklahoma details incorporated in her boots for the Oklahoma State Capitol Art Collection.