John Barton
New member
I have just gotten in from the first day of the ICCS. The day started off with the presentation of 11 cues that 11 cuemakers made for the "Santa Fe" collection. As expected all the cue makers chose native American themes and they didn't cut any corners on design and execution.
An unbelievable collection of cues and I couldn't really pick a favorite. If I had to then it would be Thomas Wayne's Kokopeile interpretation. He dared to put a symbolic pregnant woman on the cue - only Thomas goes there.
This is my first ICCS show and even though I knew that there would be some out of this world cues I was unprepared for just how amazing the cues are, from a historical perspective and from a technological perspective and especially from an art perspective.
Santa Fe is known for it's art community. Walking around the galleries is almost over whelming. Seeing the incredible displays of functional art though I am reminded that a pool cue holds a special, unrecognized place in the art world. It's a precision instrument that must work to play a difficult game first and a work of art second. There are so many of these cues that could hang in the Santa Fe galleries with absolute equality and even superiority over the other works on display.
I actually became dizzy looking at the cues. Not only the super high end ones but also the historical ones.
I met Denny Glenn and he allowed me to put Luther Lassiter's Balabushka together and stroke with it. Denny knows so much history of the players who owned the cues he now owns. This Bushka was made to Lassiter's specs in that it has about a 1 inch section of irish linen below the A-joint and above the butt sleeve with a wood handle in between. Denny explained that Lassiter like to hold the cue near the A-joint when he would start his stroke.
And for me personally, the absolute highlight of the show far was Denny Glenn's cases. He brought his cues housed in a collection of antique cases that is almost beyond description. I sat there for an hour marveling at them and was just speechless.
All I can say is that I am so glad I was given the opportunity to attend. If you love cues and cases then this show has a special character that is unlike any other I have been to. Some of these cues will never be seen outside this show. Let me tell you just how strong this show is. At one of the displays the collector had a rack of Tads and Ginas and behind the rack laying on the table was two more Ginas and a high end SouthWest. How strong is a cue show when a top SouthWest doesn't even make the rack?
If you can get it on TAR - watch it - www.theactionreport.com
Truly, in awe.
An unbelievable collection of cues and I couldn't really pick a favorite. If I had to then it would be Thomas Wayne's Kokopeile interpretation. He dared to put a symbolic pregnant woman on the cue - only Thomas goes there.
This is my first ICCS show and even though I knew that there would be some out of this world cues I was unprepared for just how amazing the cues are, from a historical perspective and from a technological perspective and especially from an art perspective.
Santa Fe is known for it's art community. Walking around the galleries is almost over whelming. Seeing the incredible displays of functional art though I am reminded that a pool cue holds a special, unrecognized place in the art world. It's a precision instrument that must work to play a difficult game first and a work of art second. There are so many of these cues that could hang in the Santa Fe galleries with absolute equality and even superiority over the other works on display.
I actually became dizzy looking at the cues. Not only the super high end ones but also the historical ones.
I met Denny Glenn and he allowed me to put Luther Lassiter's Balabushka together and stroke with it. Denny knows so much history of the players who owned the cues he now owns. This Bushka was made to Lassiter's specs in that it has about a 1 inch section of irish linen below the A-joint and above the butt sleeve with a wood handle in between. Denny explained that Lassiter like to hold the cue near the A-joint when he would start his stroke.
And for me personally, the absolute highlight of the show far was Denny Glenn's cases. He brought his cues housed in a collection of antique cases that is almost beyond description. I sat there for an hour marveling at them and was just speechless.
All I can say is that I am so glad I was given the opportunity to attend. If you love cues and cases then this show has a special character that is unlike any other I have been to. Some of these cues will never be seen outside this show. Let me tell you just how strong this show is. At one of the displays the collector had a rack of Tads and Ginas and behind the rack laying on the table was two more Ginas and a high end SouthWest. How strong is a cue show when a top SouthWest doesn't even make the rack?
If you can get it on TAR - watch it - www.theactionreport.com
Truly, in awe.
