The concept of a struggling artist truly applies to leathermaker Ean Greer, a homeless man who has slept on a mattress in a ditch for seven years. He admits his parents worry about him, but he loves using the gifts with which he was blessed to make others happy with his creations.
But his impressive leathermaking skillset doesn’t generate enough money for him to pay rent anywhere so he could have a real roof over his head instead of a tarp. However, fate has always led Greer to find the leather he needs to fulfill orders and make leather goods for his customers, including a bag of leather discarded at a bus stop, he told News Channel 5.
“I was walking through a parking lot and there was this weird hippy girl in a van. She gave me a garbage bag full of leather … I always find it magically.”
Greer designs and handcrafts mocassins in an array of sizes, along with gladiator-style sandals. He cuts, punches and stitches different types of bags and purses, too. On a sunny day, he’ll stop by an outdoor cafe and sit at a table to make his goods. Other times he takes advantage of Poverty and the Arts, a professional studio in Nashville where he doesn’t have to pay rent to use the space, which helps him out tremendously.
“It’s crazy what you can do even with your hands if you just sit down and start doing it.”
Never did Greer imagine that a project he tackled for himself as a DIY project would blossom into a business. All he wanted was a pair of mocassins for himself because his store-bought tennis shoes had fallen apart from hiking everywhere.
“People keep telling me I am an artist. I never thought of myself as an artist, I just make stuff.”
The artist embraces his lifestyle and enjoys sleeping under the stars, most of the time. He’s a walking billboard for his products, too, wearing them all around town, he shared with Inside Edition.
“I stick out. I can’t help it. Everything that I make is something that people wore like thousands of years ago.”
Homelessness remains a prevalent problem across the country and even in Greer’s home of Nashville. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, more than 550,000 people were homeless on a given single night in 2018.
Most homeless are individuals like Greer, and those who are age 25 and younger comprise seven percent of the total homeless population across the country. In Nashville, more than 1,400 people resided in shelters and another 585 individuals were on the streets.
Thankfully, Greer’s business continues to grow. He has filed for a business license and hopes to secure business insurance so he can highlight his handmade goods at the Nashville downtown farmer’s market.
Greer has an Instagram account where he shares photos of his wares that he also sells on Etsy under the business name BTWOutdoorsCo.
“I’m not exactly able to pay the rent doing this. But besides the fact that I don’t live in a house, I’m pretty normal.”
Take a closer look at Greer’s impressive creations and hear his intriguing story in the video below.
