At that point in his career, Don’s work still reflected his early influences, which included Mudra, Cliff Ketchum, Lloyd Davis and John Ernst. However, around the mid-1950s, explains longtime carver James Jackson of Sheridan, Don started making subtle changes to his floral carving. The changes included finer thumbprint impressions and more detail in the scallops of flowers and leaves in his patterns.
The demand for King-built saddles prompted Don to move his shop downtown to Sheridan’s Main Street in the early 1960s, where he continued working on trophy saddles for the Rodeo Cowboys Association. With confidence in his craft and the support of his family, Don’s emerging style took form as he sought to follow and refine his own innovations. Jackson explains the change in a foreword to Sheridan Style Carving, by Bill Gardner and Clinton Fay.
“As time passed and Don built the Rodeo Cowboys Association trophy saddles through the 1960s, his work continued to take on a new and different character, reflecting more of his individual preferences and less of the men who taught him.
“Don refined his carving and tooling, introducing floral patterns that were more precise, with smaller stems that flowed and curled in ways that made you aware of the tighter underlying geometry of the design.”
The beautiful result was unlike anything the Sheridan-area carvers had seen and, one by one, they sought to meet the newest standard in floral design and carving.
Sheridan Style Defined
Recognized for its floral carving and practical form, the Sheridan style of saddlemaking is loosely defined by those who practice it. As with other traditional crafts, artisans who work within the Sheridan style bring their own unique backgrounds and touches to the form, continuing and developing the basic style-flowing, circular patterns of wild roses, stems and leaves-with “signatures” all their own.
Flowers factor prominently in Sheridan-style patterns. Don’s use of the wild rose or copper rose, is a time honored saddlemaking tradition. His treatment of the subject sets his work apart, as elaborately carved flowers in full bloom become the focal point for balanced, often repetitious patterns.
“It’s difficult to make something look that even” admits Wyoming saddlemaker Steve Mecum. “When I first started carving, I tried to make mine look like that. Needless to say, I wasted a lot of leather before I was even close.”
Leaves and stems also play an important role in Sheridan-style carving, serving as pattern connectors that contribute to the overall flow and balance of the design as each circle flows seamlessly to the next.
Though the Sheridan-style saddle is mainly identified by its carving techniques and patterns, its shape and character also have a role, explains Alberta saddlemaker Chuck Stormes. The trees, riggings and skirt shapes Don used were consistent through the years.
“In addition to the trophy saddles,” says Stormes, “Dan’s customers were rodeo people, mostly ropers of one kind or another—-calf ropers, team ropers, steer trippers-who all wanted the same sort of a saddle: a modern, low swell-fork, with not too tall a cantle, padded seat, square skirts, full double rigging. That’s what they wanted, and that’s what Don ended up making- refining it into what people know as the King saddle.”
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