"Stupendous" Old School Pantograph Artist

scdiveteam

scdiveteam

Rick Geschrey
Silver Member
Hi,

Here are nine cues from Cue Maker and Master Panto Artist Stew (Stupendous) Mortson. These are the last 9 cues he owns of the 60 he produced over the last 35 years. All of Stew’s cues have his backwards S monicker inlayed in silver, tortoise, pearl, abalone, turquoise, and other exotic materials.

All of these inlay geometry's were designed by Stew and executed by him on the big Pantograph Mill. He also created all of his own templates. There are buckets of inlays in these 9 cues and there are a variety of materials used on the pieces of art by the master himself. Stew's last cue was built for a special collector and it had almost 700 inlays. That cue took 4 years to complete.

Stew honed is skills for many years in Bert Schrager’s shop in California. After landing in the midwest he found a home at Ray Schuler’s shop as a panograph artist and most of the work seen here was done between 1988 and 1999 when he retired to the golf corse.

His work is amazing. I had him bring these cues to my shop this morning so I could take some pics and share these with people who would appreciate the fine work of Stew’s legacy within our industry. These cues will be going to the museum of modern art and are a part of his will instructions with the museum's waited anticipation for a display.

Now 88 years young he is in good health and is as sharp as a tack. Stew is a freak of nature and an avid golfer who regularly beats his age and this summer by over ten strokes.

This man has been a great mentor to me in my cue making development as well as a great friend over the last 15 years. Because he does not have computer skills he does not hang here on AZ and when I told him about Cue Gallery he ok'ed me to share his cues.

Over the years he has sold his cues to support himself as his pension fund. At 88 years old Stew still works at White Deer Run Golf Corse and supports himself 100% independently. He is a freak of nature. (Boy do I want that guy's genes!!) :clapping:

If anyone is interested in Stew’s great art pieces shown below, please PM me your phone number and I will get it to him ASAP.

Thanks for looking and enjoy the cues:

Rick Geschrey

The first 3 pics show the last of his 12 pointers.
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3 more cues. The one on the bottom is Stew's 3 cushion player which I nick named "Salvador Dali" and it is my favorite because I learned to play 3 cushion billiards from Stew with this unit.
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3 More Cues
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Stew Mortson and Ray Hernandez. Two men and great friends who have mentored me in my development as a cue maker, a debt of gratitude I shall never be able to repay.
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Stew M

Rick, way cool post !! I met Stew 10 years or so ago at one of the Windy City tournaments. He seemed rather impressed that I knew of him and his work, being that I was from down south. We talked for a long time about cues and all the inlay work he had done in his career, as well as golf (a shared passion). He is quite an interesting man, multi-faceted, and was full of 'life experience' information.....chatting with him that day was an experience I'll always treasure.

I think he showed me one that he had inlayed with material derived from panels off the space shuttle. Is that cue one that's pictured here?

Thanks for posting this.
Sean
 
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Nice pictures you should post the pic of Stew and Ray in the Sticky "Pictures of Cuemakers" in this forum and one of yourself also.
Anyway thanks for sharing.
 
Sean,

Those ceramic inlays you are talking about came off the Gemini Project maned space capsule re entry heat shield material. All of that scrap material came from Stew's friend who worked at The Jet Propulsion Lab in California. The cues that have that material were done during the years Stew work in Bert Schraeger's shop. There is a standing joke about those cues. In 50 thousand years when those cues are dust the inlays will be found in perfect condition and the archeologists won't be able to figure that one out.

I have been bless to be around Stew for a very long time and he as so many stories of his experience with Hollywood people as well as big named people in our industry. I should get a tape recorder and just put it on because some of these real life stories and experiences are priceless.

Stew was behind the scenes when Bert broke into the Asian market for the big dollar cues when the Yen to Dollar ratio exploded opportunities to American Cue Makers. Many of Stew's cues are in hands of very prestigious overseas collectors.

A funny story was that a Japanese collector had been eyeing one of Stew's cues inlayed with ivory, silver and a ton of other exotic stuff with over 400 inlays. Finally after a few years, this man said to Stew, "well what is it going to take money wise for be to acquire that cue for my collection Stew?". Stew's response was that there is no money value, but he would take a G-35 car which had just come out at the time. The next day Stew got a call from a local Infinity dealer asking him when he wanted the courtesy car to pick him up to come a pick out his new car. You gotta love it!:bow-down:

I have asked Chris Hightower to consider Stew for hall of fame as a Panto Artist. Because he has been under the radar and has not sought any limelight over his career I am hoping at least that some special award could be presented him as he truly is a special person within our industry.

He is a "one of a kind" freak.

Thanks,

Rick
 
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Those are some great looking cues. For those unfamiliar with Stew's work, you can look him up in the Blue Book of Cues. He has worked behind the scenes with Hall of Fame cue makers for many years.
 
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gluton1 said:
Very nice pics. does he still do inlay work?
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No,

With Stew's consultancy, I am doing an "Orca" Tribute cue with ivory inlays on the CNC. Stews days on the panto are over because his one eye is bad. The Michael Jordon Cue was his last. Orca is the one that has the sharks teeth. Stew has an arrangement with Art Institute and museum of modern art to get any of his cues that are left in his will.

I hope to be able to show both cues side by side at SBE in march.

Rick
 
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scdiveteam said:
No,

Ray, Stew and I are doing an Orca Tribute cue with ivory inlays on the CNC. Stews day on the panto is over. The Michael Jordon Cue was his last. Orca is the one that has the sharks teeth. Stew has an arrangement with Art Institute and museum of modern art to get any of his cues that are left in his will.

I hope to be able to show both cues side by side at SBE in march.

Rick
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I would be extremely interested to see the Michael Jordan cue.
 
iba7467 said:
I would be extremely interested to see the Michael Jordan cue.
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Here it is. Pics of a picture. This cue was done on a panto by Stew and was finished in the late 90s here in Palatine Illinois at Ray Ray Schuler's shop on Colfax Ave.

In that inlay geometry is a numeric representation of the Bulls 2 Threepetes Championships, The 74 Win 6 loss season and all of MJ's MVPs and All Star appearances.

Off the wall stuff. Stew was over 75 years old when it was completed. Life imitating art!:joyful:

Rick

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Birth of "Orca II"

Lexicologist71 said:
Loved this posting. I wish I could afford some of those. Stunning work.
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Hi Paul,

Since most of Stews remaining cues are destined for Art Museums, I approached Stew and asked him if he wanted to team up with Ray and I to recreate his work in Tribute Cues built on my CNC. Stew agreed and we formed a Three Amigos Contract to move forward to this end.

Our first cue will be Stew's "Orca" he finished about 25 years ago. Orca II is now in progress and with Stew's oversights Ray and I are programing the G-Code and compensations to nail the geometries on that 12 point bad boy.

I started building the cue and we should be making pockets on the cue and nesting Ivory very soon. We are all committing 5 hours on Tuesdays and 5 hours on Thursdays until we "get er done".

Anyone in the Chicago area is welcome to drop by for coffee and hang out. Just give me a call so we can expect a visitor. It is a real pleasure to be working with Stew again as he is a great historian and was friends with many people in our industry with a wealth of interesting information that is very captivating to be sure. We are having fun!!

Here are some pics I took when I saw you resurrected this thread. I will be posting progress pics of the entire "Orca" build.

Rick

Here is Stew lending his oversight and help for the birth of his new grandchild "Orca II".
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you are a lucky man

Rick,

You are lucky to have the experience, the knowledge, and the history that your 2 friends bring you.

You will see farther because you stand on the shoulders of giants.

I was lucky enough to meet Stew at the 2011 WCCS and see some of his cues. A most rewarding experience.

For those that don't know, the Dali cue is from his painting "The persistence of memory." (Salvador Dali)

Kim

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I was a friend of Ray Schuler's and through him became a huge fan of Stew's work. Did he make 'The Argyle' cue that was featured in the Schuler pamphlet in the early 90s? I'd love to see better pics of that. There was a cue posted that reminded me a lot of that cue.
 
Lexicologist71 said:
I was a friend of Ray Schuler's and through him became a huge fan of Stew's work. Did he make 'The Argyle' cue that was featured in the Schuler pamphlet in the early 90s? I'd love to see better pics of that. There was a cue posted that reminded me a lot of that cue.
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Paul,

Stew inlayed the Argyle cue and it was given to Victor Stein as a replacement cue. Paul Rabino had designed a very fancy cue inlayed with gold, ivory, and many other exotics by Stew and Ray built the cue.

When Ray went to New York to deliver the cue it was stolen when Ray walked out of the tournament room for 30 seconds. Ray was very upset and he called Stew and asked Stew for one of his fancy cues as a quick replacement. Stew had just finished the Argyle and off to New York it flew.

Part of Stew's pay with the CM shops was that he could produce his own cues on his own time. Stew had the keys and worked at night always listening to his favorite music, mostly Motzart.

Nice to know you were friends with Ray Ray, we miss him a lot and the smell of his cigar.

Stew, Ray and I were good friends with John Wright who is getting a special award for his life's work and contribution to our industry. It is my hope that Stew will be considered for such and award while he is still breathing air. It would be well deservered.

Rick
 
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