From The Forest

We spoke to Jesse back in November about his leather tanning business in Montgomery, Orange County--Pergamena--Parchments & Leather. The Meyer family has been tanning leather for 474 years! On this 2nd show with Jesse, we'll get more into the industry and process side of things.

Pergamena's connection to the forest is the chestnut bark they use to tan their leathers. In addition to livestock, they will tan deerskins too.

Jesse Meyer has worked in his family’s business since he was young; going to the tannery with his father Karl on days off from school continued through high school and even during his college breaks. After graduating with a BFA from S.U.N.Y. New Paltz, he planned on getting as far away from the tannery as he could, or at least moving to NYC to try his hand at being an artist. While working on long term plans, he continued working at the tannery, and in his off hours working on his artwork and his research in animal skins and possible applications in his artwork.

Using his artistry background, Jesse revived and refined the age-old process of hand-making parchment (parchment defined as a raw animal skin that has had the hair and flesh removed, then stretched and dried under tension).

Jesse rebranded the Richard E. Meyer & Sons Tannery into Pergamena Artisanal Parchments and Leathers, taking the name Pergamena from the Latin word for parchment.