Red Okie Clay
Red Okie Clay was sculpted by Carol Williams and introduced in earthenware ceramic in 2000. He is 1:9, or Breyer "Traditional" scale, and represents a stock horse colt. This is the first piece that Joanie did not commission to have sculpted directly, instead buying the rights to produce a ceramic run and making the mold from a resin copy. Lesli Kathman designed the production color of chestnut blanket appaloosa. The very first pieces in the run were marked with a star on the belly, and the earlier pieces were a very light chestnut. Later in the run, Joan tried to add more red shading, but as red is one of the colors that burns out easily during firing, this proved inconsistent. Around Christmas 2001, approximately half way through the production run, Joan changed the color to a slightly browner shade of chestnut, with pangare around the muzzle and darker shading on face, knees and hocks. The first six pieces in this new color were marked with a small "x" on the belly and are known as the Christmas variation. Altogether a run of 231 chestnut appaloosas was produced, along with a number of bisques and custom glazes. Click on the pictures below for larger views.
Original Finish Chestnut Appy- Variations
The above three photos compare a first firing Okie (light peachy one) with an Okie (much darker one) from the very end of the run.
Custom Glaze
Detailing on the appy above is by C. Alvarez-Plitz.
Okie not OK!!!
Apparently, Mark Farmer of Alchemy reproduced Okie in bone china. It is unknown how many castings he made, at least two are known. Both are custom glazed. While there were legitimate earthenware bisques available and sent to him to glaze, these bone china castings were not authorized. This does not reflect on the quality of the castings, they are very nice. Nor should it hurt their sale value. It is solely a statement that Mark was willing to copy other artist’s work and profit from it, while working with those artists on other projects.
Above, one of the two known unauthorized bone china pieces Mark Farmer made, which surfaced during the Sale of Carole Christian's Clinky Collection dispersal in 2019.
Above, the second known unauthorized bone china piece, shown next to a regular run Okie for size comparison. The unauthorized bone china pieces would be about 1/4" smaller than the earthenware examples. The markings on the two pieces above would indicate they may have been part of a run of twenty.
Above, an example of a legitimate earthenware bisque sent to Mark to finish. Earthenware pieces can be distinguished from bone china pieces by their larger size. They also had differing placement of vent holes.
Photos by Joanie Berkwitz with the following exceptions: Solid chestnut by T. Tran; brindle by H. Malone; buckskin appy by T. Wong; appy on black background and unauthorized pinto, C. Clinky; green by K. Williams; dun by M. Miller; blue roan, E. Heritage-Mensch; chestnut roan and buckskin overo by M. Mol; three photos comparing early and late run Okies, P. Hagrman; photos comparing size of earthenware versus bone china Okies, M. Myers; photo of legitimate earthenware Okie finished by Mark, L. Strauss. Thank you everyone!!