{"id":491859,"date":"2026-10-10T20:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T20:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/491859\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T20:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T20:00:14","slug":"fresno-bootmaker-reflects-on-decades-of-craftsmanship-its-so-beautiful-yourcentralvalley-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/491859\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno bootmaker reflects on decades of craftsmanship: \u2018It\u2019s so beautiful\u2019 | YourCentralValley.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE\/KGPE<\/a>) \u2013 For decades, Luis Jovel has made headlines and gained recognition across the country thanks to his talent for bootmaking.<\/p>\n

Since then, Jovel\u2019s craftsmanship has earned him recognition across the country, including an invitation from former First Lady Laura Bush to help decorate the White House Christmas tree.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was invited to decorate the Christmas tree at the white House, by Laura Bush, another thing that happens is, to make, boots for the president of Mexico,\u201d Jovel said.<\/p>\n

Born in El Salvador, Jovel says his journey didn\u2019t start with a love for his craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never wanted to be a shoemaker,\u201d Jovel said. \u201cWe were ten brothers and sisters, and, my family said, okay, we need we need one of you guys to help to to have an income for the family.\u201d <\/p>\n

As a young boy, Jovel started making boots, learning from his father and other mentors as they worked, slowly but surely taking pride in his work and garnering the attention of those around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started working for, bigshot guys making shoes for ladies that have a lot of money and these beautiful, nice styles,\u201d Jovel said. \u201cThat\u2019s when I started liking it.\u201d<\/p>\n

His newfound love for bootmaking fueled his drive and took him from El Salvador to Costa Rica, just as political tensions started rising in his home country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a bunch of kids die in the streets because when we were going back home, there was a bunch of, bullets everywhere flying around us,\u201d Jovel said.<\/p>\n

In 1982, Jovel left El Salvador and made his way to Los Angeles, where he says he quickly made a name for himself among the stars like Brooke Shields and even Burt Reynolds.<\/p>\n

\u201cBurt Reynolds walk into the store, and I was working on his boots. He went over my head and he said, \u2018Nice job, nice work,’\u201d Jovel said. \u201cI didn\u2019t even speak English. And I said, \u2018No English.\u2019 And he said, \u2018muy bonitas.’\u201d<\/p>\n

After the store he was working at closed in Los Angeles, Jovel says he made his way to Fresno where he found a deep connection to the land, saying it reminded him of home in El Salvador.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you pass the, the mountain, the Bakersfield you see this beautiful, colorful valley that it feels like you\u2019re alive is so incredible, it\u2019s so beautiful,\u201d Jovel said.<\/p>\n

Now, the accomplished bootmaker says he hopes his story will inspire people even beyond the Central Valley.<\/p>\n

Though he\u2019s not done dreaming himself, hoping to one day have his work featured at the Smithsonian Institution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE\/KGPE) \u2013 For decades, Luis Jovel has made headlines and gained recognition across the country thanks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-491859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}