Donlin Foreman & Jaya Lord

We are Horse Hill Studio

Two different lives arriving at this

Curious

point of possibility…  

She the wanderer gatherer—ancestral archaic finder

And me the old dancer-poet imagineer alchemist. 

We fondly referred to the Studio as The BOTTEGA (a harkening back to the artistic studios of the Renaissance masters).

Donlin Foreman-L Pedrick-57.jpg

About Donlin

Leather work/craft is a theme, a first love, that has been with me throughout my life.

Though I have had no formal training I recognized I had an affinity for leather crafting my senior year in high school (Foley, Alabama 1970) – went to college (University of Montevallo, AL) thinking I was going into Marine Biology – hit organic chemistry – became a theater major – was introduced to Modern Dance and Social Dance forms by my first dance teacher Jeanette Crew – did leather work in my dorm room – opened a leather shop for seven months then realized/recognized that I was a Dancer even though I didn’t have the training yet. I closed the shop and followed the dance path and in three years found myself in Manhattan.

While living in Manhattan I danced as a Principal Artist, coached repertoire, and taught with the Martha Graham Dance Company for twenty years. I then co-directed and choreographed at my own company Buglisi/Foreman Dance, with Jacqulyn Buglisi, while serving as Associate Professor of Professional Practice at Barnard College/Columbia University. I was fortunate to have published a small volume of writing, “Out of Martha’s House”, served as chair of the Dance Panel of the New York State Council on the Arts, and created, with Jacqulyn, our son Bradley. More on my dance work including full CV can be found at www.danceocg.org.

Today, I live in the vital historic village of Harrisville, New Hampshire with my wife Jenny Emerson Foreman and our daughter and son. For several years now I’ve run a small studio, crafting leather pieces with roofing slate and repurposed wood. My windows, in the Cheshire Mills complex, look out on the cascading waters of the mill creek. Give a call and stop by.

I am proud to be a juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and the Walpole Artisans Co-op. Seasonal pieces can be found at Hannah Grimes Marketplace in Keene, NH.

Horse Hill Studio is on FB and Instagram.

About Jaya

I came to leatherwork through happenstance really, or perhaps fate.

I have been a crafter of many different forms throughout my life. Growing up in the forests of New Hampshire, I developed a deep affinity for the natural world and have long been inspired by it. Thus, I have explored many crafts related to it—from eco-dyeing with leaves, mushrooms, and bark gathered by hand, to nature photography, to stone carving, to woodworking. After graduating from Oberlin College in Ohio, I embraced a more nomadic way of life, traveling to many beautiful and sacred places, working on farms and deepening my connection to nature and my artistic relationship with it. 

Now after many years, I've come back to New Hampshire and the forest and wilds I love most of all. Upon returning, I happened to come to Horse Hill Studio to collaborate with Donlin on a small pouch I wished to make. From there the collaboration just never stopped, and maybe one day we will even finish that pouch! I have truly loved immersing myself in leather as a medium and find in its versatility and malleability everything I was searching for.  As we’ve moved forward in the work, we were awarded the CAP apprenticeship grant in February 2023, and I was juried into the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen in May 2023. I can't wait to see what is next!

  • I see the artistic pull between humanity and nature as the same pull between humanity and the divine, and by working with this image in my craft/ life I find beauty and meaning.

    These days, I delve into this through the medium of leather and mixed-media using natural objects gathered in my travels as well as the local forests to enhance and adorn my work. To be able to use a piece of driftwood I collected under the misty cliffs in Northern California, a fossilized shell from the deserts of Arizona, or a leaf from the forest floor out behind our studio in Harrisville, gives these objects a continuing life and connects us to each other and to the magic of the natural world. Along with that and a part of it, I harken to the ancient and archaic and through honing my craft aspire to the same gravitas and essentialism as our ancestors. In this way I seek to create the magical and sacred objects I desire in my own life.

I managed a beautiful 70-year-old fine art and craft gallery in Peterborough, NH, for 14 years. Approximately 150-200 artists and craftsmen contributed work on a regular basis. I loved the artists and their work! I got the opportunity to see fabulous pieces! Every now and then, a truly extraordinary artist made his way to our gallery. Donlin Foreman was one of those whose vision and passion and genius designing talents made him our top-selling artist during his first holiday season with us. Even jewelry couldn’t top him. (Unheard of!!) He is dedicated to his craft and his heart and soul are poured into every piece of work, no matter how small.
— Gillie Dierauf