Show opens on Friday, and last chance for snapping up pre-orders on Kickstarter...

There's nothing like an upcoming show to make the gentle breeze of time passing turn into a gale and rip the pages off the calendar with frightening speed.

Especially when you're trying to get a few new pieces ready in time, and hoping a large piece arrives safely in time from a museum show the next state over.

Luckily I can rely on the handful of talented professionals I have come to know over the last few years to do a great job every time.  Thanks guys.

Testing my tree frog shoe horn for hangability before finishing, while Lee welds on a mouse tail...

Tree frogs with their sprues cut off

Snail end of one of my shoehorns. I might do this snail also as a stand-alone in the future...

Needs welding

Post weld hammering

Plenty of my old favorites will be in attendance, like my Monkey Discus Thrower, Bear Back Rider, various toads, and barring any disasters my large Sumo Toads, along with a handful of new pieces like various small turtles and tree frogs on a vine which are already installed, plus...

I've dropped off my artist's proof of 'Crossing Over' at Manitou, but several others (my tree frog  clinging on a wall, my wall hanging tree frog shoe horn, snail shoe horn, Pugnacious Mouse) should be ready this week, with my chameleon plaques not getting into my hot little hands until likely Thursday, which will give me just enough time to patina them before hanging.
Some of these new pieces will be mostly for order taking only, since  I've only had a few cast so far.


I also need to sort out the resin for my swimming turtles.

Anyhow, I'm very excited about it and I'm sure all will go well, even if it's just in time, although Manitou are also opening a new gallery at the bottom of Canyon Road which will have garden space to display outdoor sculptures, which is great!

So they'll be even busier than usual this next few weeks!

I'm the sculpture half of the show, so I'm proud to be sharing with painter Jennifer O'Cualain.
Her animal paintings will be the ideal complement to my bronze critters, and she generously painted a picture for my Mouse Project book.

Unfortunately my favorite mice are looking a bit too risque for this particular gallery.
I was a bit surprised since I never really saw myself as the Damien Hirst of Santa Fe!

 Rumpy Mouse and Pumpy Mouse - metal master, pre-patina

I'll be forced to sell them shadily on ever changing street corners from the trunk of my roving mouse mobile!
Coded messages shall appear in the newspaper, alerting those in the know where and when the next secret rendezvous will be...

My Kickstarter project is almost over, and I'm very happy to say that I achieved my funding goal early and then some thanks to the enthusiastic support of my backers who I'm delighted to say love what I do!
Which is extremely gratifying, and makes being an artist all the more rewarding.
Thanks backers!

It ends around midnight at the end of Sunday OOPS, I MEAN SATURDAY!, mountain time, so if you'd like a quick look before it ends you can click HERE.

Pugnacious metal master with a little metalwork to go before patina...

Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

'Crossing Over' - Bronze on blackened steel base, 18" x 10" x 4"

Here is my artist's proof for 'Crossing Over'.
Bronze on blackened steel base,  18" x 10" x 4"

This is what the foundry will refer to for positioning and patina while they make the edition of 25.
It's currently (although only for the next few days before it's offered in galleries) available for pre-order through my Kickstarter project at a significant discount, along with a few other new mice.
You can click HERE to check it out.

Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

The Rolls Royce of shoe horns is rolling along, plus other tree frog and Kickstarter progress...

My epic shoe horns featuring either a snail or a tree frog are progressing nicely through the many stages that bronze casting demands.
The top of the shoe horns featuring the critter in question are being cast separately from the main portion. They are hollow to accommodate a screw head sticking from a wall for hanging after the back side is welded on with 'keyhole' cut into it.
The rest of the shoehorn will be welded to it and worked in metal before a final sandblast and patina to create the seamless whole.

Shoe horn - handle end

I took pics of some castings of my hollow wall mounted and solid paperweight tree frogs.
They mostly still need some metalwork done (small vent off the nose, flattening the bottom), before a final sandblast with glass beads for a silky smooth look and then the final patina application.

My Kickstarter project is only a week from over...
It finishes around 2 AM on Feb 27, so if you fancy getting your  hands on my new mice at the pre-order price before time runs out, click HERE.

I'd again like to thank everyone who's snapped up something using Kickstarter with their pledge system.

Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

Happy Valentine's Day - Chubby Mouse Style

 

 

 

 

Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

More slow-moving chameleon action...(another bas relief plaque in the works)

Hot on the heels of my first chameleon bas relief plaque comes....
 .......ta daaa.........
....another chameleon bas relief plaque!

They aren't cast in bronze yet, but  have been molded and I have a couple of plaster casts to keep me going while the whole bronze casting machinery slowly grinds into motion.

Bronze pics coming soon...

Just like watching a chameleon in 'action', bronze casting is not a particularly speedy process.

Here's a couple of  'in progress' pics...

Meanwhile, at a top secret mouse breeding facility hidden deep inside the German countryside...

'Rein und raus' squeaks each tiny mouse (in perfectly synchronized unison of course).

Actually they aren't really in Germany, the pic just conjured up thoughts of German efficiency for some reason!

They are waxes awaiting investment and casting and metal chasing and finally then to receive their patinas.

Available for pre-order through my Kickstarter project (until Feb 26 2011) at a sizable discount before they hit the galleries...click HERE to learn more.

Meanwhile, since TX Cupcake never appeared to collect their prize,  tip top painter and next closest guesser (as per the rules) in my contest, Deborah Paris got her Nosey in the mail yesterday.

She's made painting her immediate surroundings her mission and her sensitive paintings on her blog are a must see...

Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille