What are these spooky structures in the hills of Santa Fe? And a new contest next week...

Next post will be my 100th blog post so I'll give away a couple of mice in a contest I'll announce then.
There will be two ways to win. One mouse for winning the contest, another mouse for mentioning the contest (with a link) on your blog, so stay tuned, especially if you (or a friend) also have a blog...

OK, back to this week.
Meridee went hiking up near the Santa Fe ski hill with her friend and author Elizabeth Gilchrist.
They went a bit off the beaten track and encountered some strange structures. Each was made of many tree trunks assembled teepee style around a living tree. They look like they took some serious effort to make, and they kept finding more, ever larger ones the further into the woods they went.

They got a bit spooked and turned and left!

I went back there with Meridee for a look, and snapped a few pics. They really are a bit of a head scratcher.

As you can see they're quite large, completely impenetrable except for a doorway, have bits of chopped off log to sit on inside, and there's several of them.

After a few beers we decided we'd probably head back there on the summer solstice and see if there's any curious shenanigans going on, since our imaginations got the better of us while we wondered what they might all be about!

Any ideas? I'd love to hear them!

Sculpture news!
Here's Lee Wilson's mold making handiwork in progress for my tree frogs on a vine sculpture.
Hopefully we'll have that piece all finished up and photographed in a couple of months.
His artful molds look like abstract sculptures.

I've been working on a couple of other things, one of which will combine some elements I haven't seen done before.
Which probably means every one has done it, but I just haven't noticed!

I'm being a bit coy about it until it's further along, but I showed some of the elements to Lee who will be making my mold, pulling waxes, and what have you.

Here's Lee in 'action'.

I enjoy running things by him since he can suggest practical considerations to make them more efficiently.
If they can be done without infringing on the integrity of my idea, I'll go for it.
In this case, he suggested slightly thickening the sides of a rectangular part to ensure the bronze will flow more freely and create fewer failed castings, which I took care of.

With many years of experience in all aspects of the casting process, he is a great source of 'insider knowledge', and I like take advantage of it whenever I can!

OK, what's the mystery critter in this pic? I snapped it at a nearby gardening nursery that has a pond...
(by the way, this is not the contest, that's next week!)

So don't forget to stay tuned for next weekend's contest announcement...


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

Is that a frog in your fridge...?

What self respecting sculptor of critters hasn't had a frog in their fridge at one time or another?
Well, it's not a real frog. And it's actually more of a toad with its prominent parotid glands and all. No warts though. Oliver Cromwell would not have been impressed (the puritanical fun hater who outlawed parties and who insisted on his portrait being done 'warts and all').
My toad has no warts. Kind of a frog/toad hybrid.
Trog? Froad?
Hybrids are all the rage these days!
But why is he in the fridge?
Nope, he's not made of chocolate.
But a very soft wax that tends to droop when it gets warm (it gets really sticky and awkward just from the heat of my fingers).
I'd started him a couple of years ago and just got the urge to finish it, so prior to taking it over to be molded I kept him where he'd stay nice and cool.
You can see he's been shamelessly raiding our butterfly crisper.

By the way, that stuff in the white pot will melt your guts. It's just nasty. Green chili #2 from the Horseman's Haven in Santa Fe. I'll stick to the regular version from now on, that's plenty hot enough.

Website here.