a little about the j bar lazy m...
alot has happened over the years at the j bar lazy m. we've had wonderful times, and beautiful days but we've also had heartache and devastation. i guess you could say, in the spirit of the west...life goes on!!! over the years at the j bar lazy m we have created leather and canvas products, natural cleaning products, jewelry and art. we've raised alot of livestock, cows, horses, pigs and chickens. as we continue on our journey as caretakers of this land, we continue to grow and create. some of our products are made with metal from the fire we had here at the j bar lazy m. some of our products are made with natural materials that we find here at the j bar lazy m. we've always used our hands....whether we are taking care of animals, farming or creating product. thank you for taking time to visit the j bar lazy m.
love, karen and family
a message from karen…
hello… my name is karen milstein. i thought i would take a minute and tell you a little about my life. i was married to the love of my life, my cowboy, for over 25 years. together we raised three pretty amazing children. together, we created many different businesses. the one we were most proud of was of leather and canvas manufacturing business of 20 years. we manufactured bags, purses, totes, luggage, etc. and for many years we produced leather goods for the working cowboy. chaps, horse equipment, etc. our large shop was located at our home, our ranch and our kids grew up learning how to do leather work and how to sew at a very young age.
on memorial day, 2014, our shop burned to the ground. we were at that time, taking a break, not doing the leather business, and had gone into a different direction, opening a restaurant. our shop was full of sewing machines, large manufacturing equipment, antiques, boxes and boxes were being stored in our shop. stupid, i know but we didn’t have it insured. we lost so much. my husband took all the metal he could to a salvage yard but i asked him to keep the burned metal roofing for me. as an artist, i knew i could use it for something.
so i started using the roofing metal to create art… trying to make a living using what we had and getting our life back in some sort of order.
in october of 2017, jeff, my husband, fell off a ladder while painting the house. a stick went through his neck, he was flown to a denver hospital and on the flight, he suffered a stroke. while they didn’t think he would live through the night, he did and after many months of rehab. in denver, we brought him home. life was different but we were adjusting. then on a day in august 2018, i found jeff passed away in our home.
many of you know our story and have followed me and supported my art and for that i am so very thankful….i decided to write this for the many of you, who don’t know my story, our story.
i hope when you look at my art, you will be able to see deep into my soul XXXXX love, karen