Dangerous liasons, and my big news...

Naughty Rumpy and Pumpy mice rudely invading a Dan Ostermiller bronze...

I was dropping off some mice for this years Barkin' Ball at the Humane Society to benefit Santa Fe's animal shelter when I noticed a splendid sculpture by Dan Ostermiller...

I couldn't help myself: I just had to put Rumpy and Pumpy mice in there since the piece seemed to be made specially for them!

Rumpy and Pumpy mice

I wondered if I just left them there: would anyone think to move them, or just assume they were welded in place?!

I've had fun photographing Nosey mouse playing on Dan's famous bears before, which you can see if you click HERE.

Two other people's work that grabbed forcefully for my attention when we moved to Santa Fe were bronzes by Sisko, and Louise Peterson.
That was nearly six years ago.
Seeing all three of those represented around town gave me the kick up the pants I needed to get serious about sculpting.

I was struck by their obvious love of and respect for nature, and the elegant and restrained degree with which they stylized their designs.

My BIG news!

And now for my BIG NEWS which I'm exceedingly puffed up about right about now, just having got back from the mail box and all...

I have a letter informing me that I've been elected as a sculptor member to the National Sculpture Society!

From their website...'In 1893, our founding members, including Daniel Chester French, Augustus St. Gaudens, Stanford White and J.Q.A. Ward, established the Society to "spread the knowledge of good sculpture." Today, NSS continues to support sculpture as an active, vital, not-for-profit 501(c) 3 organization.'


Up 'till now I've been an associate member, which allows me to enter their annual shows, get the magazine and what have you.

But Elected Members are sculptors whose work is juried and voted on by other elected sculptor members and the NSS Board of Directors.

I imagine every artist relishes being recognized by their peers; not only that, but now I can officially put NSS after my name if I'm feeling flash!

Dan Ostermiller is currently president of the NSS (and not for the first time).
I hope he doesn't mind my little mice playing on his sculpture, otherwise I could find myself banned even before my certificate and pin arrive in the mail!

.
Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back

or my Etsy store, CritterVille

.

Frog fetish anyone?...(or: All work and no play makes Steve a dull boy!)

I've always liked lively sketchy drawings, so I thought I'd try some really quick sketchy frogs in clay.
I made a few, probably spending no more than a minute on each one.
Just the absolute bare bones minimum number of squishes into the clay to convey froggyness.
They got briefer as I went.

This one is my favorite, so I've now it molded and I've got some waxes with the sprues still in place.
They'll be cast in bronze, the sprues cut off, then the bottoms flattened nicely before the patina is applied.

This one struggles under the weight of a penny

I noticed they look a bit like Native American fetishes carved from stones, but with intensely staring eyes.
This Santa Fe living must be rubbing off on me at least a bit.

All work and no play makes Steve a dull boy!

Those baby swallows are flying all day now, but still come back to roost in extremely cramped quarters in their tiny mud nest!
.

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

 

 

.

All mice go to heaven...

Everything eats mice.
They have their place in the food chain, which sadly for them is right at the bottom, so every day they quietly make the ultimate sacrifice.
And yet no monument honors them...

...I recently tried out a silver patina for a change which gave my mice a heavenly look.
It would seem the perfect icing for my new mouse cake.
A mouse cake with wings.

Meet winged Pugnacious.
Or angel pug if you prefer...

Angel Pug is my tribute to the bazillions of mice who've died, and will continue to die, so other creatures might live.

Here he is in wax and clay for  now.

Before long he'll be crash landing on my table with a loud clang since he'll be solid bronze with a silver patina.
Then he'll be followed by others, like Angel Chubby, and Winged Sprightly who are waiting in the wings even now (groan!).

I like Angel Pug.
He sort of reminds me of old Ray Harryhausen movies, or those monkeys in 'The wizard of Oz'.

Speaking of wings, we've got some fat baby swallows with giant mouths outside our front door.
One at least has started to fly already.

.

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

 

 

.

'Creatures' show at Sisko Gallery in Seattle

If you're in Seattle between July 14th and August 21st pop into Sisko Gallery for this year's 'Creatures' show!

.

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

 

 

.

Guess my weight and win a mouse contest results...

212.6
It seems I'm still immune to shame.
Or perhaps I stubbornly refuse to be shamed into anything, even when it's me doing the shaming, and it's for my own good!

So after 6 months my weight loss is a few measly pounds, and so the winner is TX Cupcake, who also won the first time, but never got around to claiming their prize!
So as per the rules, after one month it went to the next closest guess.

TX Cupcake, since your entry came in the form of a comment, and you have no contact info on your profile, it's up to you to get in touch by the end of the July (I'll give you 'till Aug 5th since it's the 5th now)!

This time, if TX Cupcake doesn't claim their prize of a mouse by Aug 5th (from Sprightly, Nosey or Chubby) the next closest will win again (in this case Bob Coady who optimistically assumed - via email - I might lose a staggering 9 lbs in 6 months, which I didn't!)

Now for my tasty breakfast of hippo burgers and elephant pie chasers, all washed down with bath tub of whale's milk while I plot a more effective plan to dump some lard...

.

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

.