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

Go ahead email, make my day...

I've had a couple of emails this week that more than made my day!
Norma Evans won the bonus prize in my guess the length of the snake contest and she had this to say...

'Thank you so much for Alfie, my rabbit, I really love him.  Thought you'd like to see where Nosey and Sprightly are spending their time lately getting an education.  I made the books out of wood for them, they look like real books and fool everyone.'

Stunning! I can honestly say I never expected anyone to carve wooden books to arrange their mice around!



And then I learned that Gordon Lutz from Pasadena had bought one of my life sized laying down rabbits, Maxwell, from Manitou Galleries here in town during a recent visit to Santa Fe.

He contacted me and had this to say...

 'He now sits proudly next to my reading chair.  My wife and I volunteer for several local (Pasadena, CA area) rabbit rescues (mybunny.org) and have been rabbit people for quite some time.  We curently have 18 house rabbits along with a couple of fosters, all rescues, so Maxwell is very much at home here.' 

'BTW...the housekeeper came into the living room and saw Maxwell on the table next to my reading chair and she literally jumped.  She thought one of the rabbits had escaped and was resting on the table.  She could not believe how realistic the sculpture is.  I think that is a nice compliment of your work.'

  'I am attaching two pics of two bunnies that in a way remind me of Maxwell.  they are not desert cottontails but are domestic rescues living with us.  There is somewhat of a resemblance in the look I think.' 

Thanks Norma and Gordon! And thanks for letting me quote you as well!

The best thing about being a sculptor is feedback like this!

It's left me feeling quite puffed up this week!





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

How kids wielding pre-paid American Express cards already made my year!

So it’s a brand new decade. Who knows what any of us will be up to when it’s over?

I don’t know about you, but the world seems to be changing faster than I can keep up with.

But I’m trying! I wasn’t a sculptor when this last decade started. That was something I launched into in 2006.

In 2000 my world was yet to encounter facebook, YouTube and Etsy, in fact I don’t think I even had a computer or knew how to type (thanks Mavis!).

Thank you all for reading Globspot so far. I have a few things up my sleeve for 2010 which I hope you’ll also find interesting.

They will come tumbling out in good time.

Here’s something you might get a kick out of. I know I did!

Jessamine and Patricia at Manitou Gallery here in Santa Fe told me a story that I found really touching.

A mother and her two daughters were in the gallery shopping for art.

The two girls, aged six and seven, each had pre-paid American Express cards which had $50 credit on them.

Their mother was teaching them about credit cards, money, and collecting art.

They each picked out one of my very tiny turtles as their very first art purchases.

Apparently they were very self possessed, and matter of factly acknowledged in the affirmative when Nathalie asked if they would like to have appraisals mailed to them following their purchases!

When I heard I was so chuffed, I thought ‘how cool is that!’.

Thanks kids!

And Mom too, who also snapped up my next size up tiny turtle.

New year’s resolutions:

Keep trying new things.

Give away 60 mice to animal shelter art auctions (I give one away for every 5 I sell, and I gave 19 away since I started six months ago, with a few more standing by to kick things off this year).
Next year on I will donate one for every five sold, up to 25 mice a year.

Everyone’s favorite- lose weight. 40 lbs with any luck by the end of the year. I’m posting my poundage monthly at the end of my email newsletter: Not because I imagine for one second any of you are all that interested, but because it will (hopefully) act as a major incentive for me to keep at it! Jan 1 2010, 210.2 lbs. I hope you can forgive the indulgence!

My website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
My Etsy store, CritterVille.

My show last night at Manitou here in Santa Fe was a blast!

I had a blast last night at the reception for my sculpture show. It had been written up in Western Art Collector magazine , publicized by the gallery and me, and happily we were rewarded with a great turnout of strangers, neighbors and friends who all seemed to be having as good a time as me.

I got a real kick out of being present to answer questions from buyers who were thrilled with their purchases, which made me happier than ever.

Gigi bought a mid size bumper to bumper, and wanted to know how it was made. I cheerfully explained as much as I could, but of course suggested she find out more by searching for 'bumper to bumper' on this blog, since I’ve given detailed photo enhanced ‘how to’s’ on that piece in various sizes!
She’s off home again today after enjoying a re-union with friends.

They all seemed to like my suggestion of naming each one of the turtles after the re-united buddies!

Gerry from across the street added a Nosey mouse to her collection.

Bob and Aggie, who star in this video on YouTube (perfect for very tiny tots, it will DRIVE YOU NUTS if you aren't 3!) brought along some friends.

Thanks again for letting me invade your house with my video camera!

Familiar faces from my blog came along:

Mike Masse, Santa Fe’s patina king.

Lee Wilson, as good a mold maker as you’ll ever find.

Frank Fritzges, without who’s casting skills I wouldn’t have made much of a start at all into the miniature end of the world of bronzes.

I was delighted to run into many others, a few of which I’ll mention here…

Peter Wright, glass artist and bronze publisher . He’s been responsible for publishing many of my larger in physical size, smaller in edition size pieces. In fact I just got news (while writing this) that someone just snapped up one of those pieces, a turtle !

Michael Tatom, a jeweler and sculptor who I first met during Sculpture In The Park, at Loveland, CO.

Vince Maggiore, who did the patinas on my first bronzes, the life sized rabbits, while he was working at Shidoni foundry.

Michelle Chrisman, who paints regularly with Meridee came all the way from Taos with Phil (and then had to drive all the way back again to let the dogs out!).

Juanita who works at Nedra Matteucci’s gallery, and turned a blind eye over the release of my turtle who modeled for me, into the splendid pond they have in their sculpture garden. He’s doing very well, by the way, and is getting quite large now (but not nearly as big as the other turtles there).

Elizabeth who knew Meridee in a former existence, and Kent . They are a pair of authors who've had some very notable successes.

Lots more folks besides, I really appreciate your coming.
Thanks to everyone at Manitou , and of course an extra big thanks to Meridee.
I’ve bent her ears more than most people could ever stand to hear about all things clay and bronze!

I should do this more often!

(did I forget to thank the academy?)

It’s nice to feel like a star for a night!


SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
My Etsy store, CritterVille.

How Sprightly mouse and Creamsicle kitty became friends, and Barkin' Ball, the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society bash...

A couple of weeks ago Celia at the coffee shop told us she had some kittens.
Not being one to miss a photo opportunity for Sprightly mouse, I asked if I could borrow them for a couple of hours.

Last weekend she brought two of them by. Creamsicle and Picasso.
They were unbelievably well behaved and photo friendly, and Meridee fell instantly in love with Picasso. If we had to have a Picasso in the house, that little kitty would be it.

Celia was keeping Picasso (not that we could have, Meridee is off the charts allergic), but said Creamsicle needed a home. So I used one of the pics to make a poster for her, which this morning she told us has done the trick (I cut off her phone # for this blog post version).


She put it up at the local Co-Op market and has been inundated with offers, so after a careful screening it looks like Creamsicle gets a home.


We also recently went to the Santa Fe Humane Society and Animal Shelter (or vice-versa) to meet Gabrielle who works there, and drop off a set of six bronze mice for their upcoming bash and art auction, the 'Barkin' Ball'. It will be held at the convention center and tickets I believe are $60 (as of right now).
The shelter's not far away, and is sprawled on a bunch of land overlooking plains and mountains with spectacular views of the sunsets.

Gabrielle was very nice and showed us around the building with all the otherwise homeless bunnies, kittens, cats, puppies and dogs that they are caring for. It's pretty hard to resist the big sad brown eyes as they get up and stare imploringly at you from their tiny rooms, gripping your hand with their paws. It's kind of a bit like doggy jail, except for the puppies who just roll about blissfully ignorant of their situation.

It's more like camp for them.

Since June, when I decided to give one mouse away to art auctions benefitting animal shelters, for every five mice I sell I've given 8 away. I'll need to give a few more to the Barkin' Ball and I suspect soon a bunch to Felines and Friends for their Christmas bash since those mice just keep trotting out through the door!

I think there's another homeless animal shelter locally that might host auctions, after that I'll be searching further afield.

My mice are on a mission to find homes for them, one kitty at a time...

My website, and Etsy store.