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Bill Owen's Personal Chuck Stormes Saddle

Currency:USD Category:Western Americana Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:9,000.00 - 14,000.00 USD
Bill Owen's Personal Chuck Stormes Saddle
Deep mixed floral carving by the master TCAA saddlemaker, Chuck Stormes of Calgary, Alberta. A fabulous example of Chuck's award winning workmanship. 16" seat, Cheyene roll, OWEN carved into the cantle. The conchos are hand engraved sterling stars with surrounding dots by Mark Drain, TCAA emeritus member. From Chuck Stormes: "Bill team roped out of it for a short time, then decided it was too nice a saddle to get skinned up in the
arena and decided to put it in the house, where he enjoyed it ever since.".


John William "Bill" Owen (1942 - 2013)
A native of Gila Bend, AZ, Bill Owen lived in Kirkland, Arizona. A painter in the western realist style, he was influenced by his cowboy father and artist m1. Owen was a Prix de West artist for 23 years and an influential member of the Cowboy 550 of America. His painting achievements were earned in spite of a 1989 rodeo-related accident, which caused him to lose sight in his right eye. Before that time he had also been a sculptor, but the eyesight loss affected his depth perception, so he quit working in three-dimensional mediums. In 1993 he became a member and staff artist of Rancheros Visitadores and was awarded the Frederic Remington Award for Artistic Merit by the Cowboy Hall of Fame. He died in June 2013 while photographing cowboys in Peach Springs, Arizona.

Chuck Stormes
Founding member and past President of the TCAA (Traditional Cowboy Arts Association), Chuck Stormes was fortunate to apprentice with the last of Calgary's pioneer saddleries. Further training in a succession of southern Alberta saddleries culminated in the opening of his own shop in 1968. Building on a strong sense of tradition and a deep commitment to fine craftsmanship, Stormes developed an enviable word-of-mouth reputation. Early California saddleries, particularly Loomis and Visalia, along with contemporary craftsmen such as the late Don King and Ray Holes have been continuing sources of inspiration. His saddles have been on view at every major North American exhibition of western crafts, and, in 1998, he was the first recipient of the City of Calgary's Silver Spur Award for his dedication to the preservation of western culture. Also in 1998, he received the Will Rogers Award from the Academy of Western 550 in Ft Worth, Texas. In 2005, Stormes was granted the honorary title of Associate Curator by Calgary's Glenbow Museum.