Trying some things out, and this year's Barkin' Ball...

Tiny swimming bronze turtles in resin 'water'

Originally I wanted to make bronze turtles swimming through glass that was cast around them.
But I asked a glass blower and learned that it would crack and break up as it cooled around the hard metal, so I explored other options, deciding to give a urethane resin a try.
I was advised to wear rubber gloves and eye protection, and avoid getting the uncured resin on my skin, as some people have an allergy to it and can develop a poison oak type of reaction.
And if you aren't allergic to it, you can become sensitive to it, so best avoid the situation and cover up.

Once it's cured it's completely harmless, clear, and hard as nails.
Just like what I wanted glass for, so I gave it a go.

turtles on the window sill while the 'water' cures

paraphernalia

You have to be really precise in mixing the A and B volumes. That's what the syringes are for.
The straws are for stirring them together.
And once mixed you have a limited working time before it starts to 'go off'.
And you have to keep it quite warm (ideally 140ºF) while it sets, or it will never cure completely.
So the window sill and a lamp took care of that.
The bronze was too hot to touch all afternoon.

Well I really like the effect, especially with a greeny colored patina under it, to contrast with the turtles.
It's got me interested in coming up with other things to do with it!

Mike finished the metalwork on my tree frogs on a vine and did a very nice job on the patina (of course!).
I'm undecided as yet about which base I prefer. I'm having the round metal one all tarted up so I can compare them side by side. I like its minimal profile, but I also like the reflectiveness of the granite.
We'll see...

Mike Masse doing his thing on my tree frogs on a vine

unfinished metal base

Barkin' Ball came along unexpectedly quickly this year. I almost didn't get my mice in on time!

Yee-haw! It's Barkin' Ball 2010.

These critters found a great home...

But I'm glad to say they found a great home at the end of the silent auction to benefit the humane society's animal shelter here in Santa Fe.

The Mouse Project cover and page layouts are coming along nicely, I'm using Lulu.com, so I'll have to post a few pics of them next time around. I haven't done the wordy bits yet. But soon I will have done, then as soon as the last pics come in I should be just about able to drop 'em in and be all done!

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

Patina King Mike Masse and his angry swarming hordes

Say 'Hello' to Mike Masse.
He's regarded by many as Santa Fe's patina king.
But he's a lot more than that.
Like crazy. About bees that is.

He's got hives full of them, and he's likely to be risking life and limb at any given moment to get his hands on swarms of more bees if they land anywhere he knows about.
In fact he'd stopped off on his way into his studio to nab a bunch that had settled on Rodeo Road just before this pic was taken.That's him in the blue, by the way. We are both seeing who can hold a half dozen bees in our mouths without getting stung for the longest.
You should also know I'm a compulsive liar, and scared silly of bees. I just have a goofy smile, not really a mouth full of bees.

Anyhow, Mike's place is chock full of interesting goodies, like dessicated salamanders hanging on a nail, other dead things, a box full of fossils he's found on his wanderings, skulls, bones, all sorts of sculptures he's made since he's a sculptor too, half finished work by other people he's welding together before patinating, a gazillion tools, and a sandblaster as modeled here by your's truly.Since I always make it my policy to learn from the best, I met him when I paid for his services to learn how to do some patinas after casting my first sculptures. But he's too interesting a fellow to not catch up with from time to time.

Oh, he also put up a box in a tree on Canyon Road to coax a bunch of bees out of it's hollow trunk. The bees were fairly well behaved during a wedding in the back of the gallery, if I'm not mistaken only the best man got stung on the ankle.Oh, an interesting detail I forgot to mention. Mike told me he got a couple of stings after 2 bees got inside his face-protecting netty head dress bee keeper thing, and he's allergic!
He has to take Benadryl for several days straight. Doctor's orders. So maybe crazy was right after all.

Besides that, it's been another snaky week.
Here's my 'pet' bullsnake in the garden on his rounds. He's 3 feet long. He acted very agitated, swinging his head about when the trash truck rumbled past setting off all kinds of scary vibrations.

And when Meridee and I popped into a garden/flower place which is all outdoors and set amidst a semi wild landscape, I rescued a garter snake from the clutches of a cat.
That cat must hate me, last time I stole a lizard she was playing with.
So I let her play with the string on my hat so there'd be no hard feelings.
Well the snake seemed a bit sluggish, but revived as soon as he saw a chance to slip into some water when I dropped him off by a little pond.

Oh, and I'm not really a compulsive liar.
Or am I?