And the winner is...!

Well my guess the weight of the chubby artist contest is now over, and we have 2 winners!

Since the start of the year, thanks to my austerity fridge, I've lost a bit over 20 lbs and coasted a bit lately, languishing under 200 lbs for the last couple of months.
So I'm the first winner.

The second winner guessed closest to my final weigh-in on Aug 1st.
I was 199.4 lbs so congratulations to Hockey Rules who won with 198.8
It could have gone any one of four ways, but Meridee and I shared a chicken vindaloo the other night, and after a bit of wine I ate all the leftover rice so that was that!

My downward slide (hopefully still plenty more downward sliding to go...!)

Winged Angel Chubby enjoying a bit of leftover rice

Winged Angel Pugnacious

Winged Angel Sprightly

So get in touch to claim your prize!

Any one of my winged angel mice.

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

Win a bronze Winged Angel Mouse...x2!

Angel Chubby (no patina yet, will be silver colored)

Angel Pugnacious (no patina yet, will be silver colored)

Winged Angel Sprightly (no patina yet, will be silver colored)

OK, here we go again!

Oh yes, it's time once more for 'guess the weight of the chubby artist after he's had yet another try at shifting some lard'...

Right, I've tried it twice before. And if you guessed during my earlier attempts that after 6 months I'd weigh about the same as when I started, or perhaps a bit more, you might have won!

Of course there's always the possibility that the third time will be the charm.
Plus I have my secret weapon, which I didn't have before...

This time I have my very own tiny fridge, for instant retrieval of ingredients to create my tiny feeds.
No hunting around the swirling morass of confusion and temptation that abounds in the regular fridge...
...I'm using the austerity fridge.

Pretty much all my austerity feeds will be looking something like this...

That's not dandruff on the plate, it's cheese (the rest is inside the wonderfully appetizing looking eggbeater blanket).

I kicked off on Jan 1st at a svelte 220.4 lbs with a cold and immediately gained a couple of pounds.
But then I got my fridge, and with it, my edge.
Did I lose any after that?
I'm not telling!

So roll up and place your bets!

Well, bet singular actually, since you can only have one guess.


Here's the RULES...

Winning the first Winged Angel Mouse...

Make your guess as to what I will weigh on the first of August.

Enter by leaving a comment on this post (BEFORE MARCH 1st) with your guess, or email me (BEFORE MARCH 1st) with 'Chubby Artist' in the subject line (or I won't find your emailed guess come August 1st).

You can email me from my profile page here, or my contact page on my regular website. Don't forget to put 'Chubby Artist' in the subject line.

Anyone making more than one guess will be disqualified.

I will announce the result and the winner on August 1st (or thereabouts).

In the result of a draw, I'll roll a dice to determine the winner.

I'll post my current state of lardiness in the form of pounds at the end of blog posts after March 1st, so you can check in and see if I'm heading towards or away from your guess!

Your responsibility is to check-in during the month of August and contact me if you won if I'm unable to contact you.

If I'm unable to contact you by Sept 1st, the next closest wins (that  happened before with an earlier contest - the winner left a comment, but had no contact info on their profile page and didn't contact me).

Any arguments are decided by me, since it's my contest, and my mouse!


Winning the second Winged Angel Mouse...

If you have a blog (it must have existed before today!), you can enter by posting an announcement of this contest with a link to this post on your blog.
Let me know by commenting on this post, or email me ('blog entry' in the subject line) and you'll be in the blog draw for a Winged Angel Mouse of your choice.

Any bloggers who enter the second way before the end of this weekend (before Feb 6) gets a double entry - their name goes in the hat twice!



More info that might help you...

I'm 5'10" tall.

My scale reads pounds in increments of one fifth of a pound, eg

200.0
200.2
200.4
200.6
200.8
201.0

So if you want a chance at nailing it precisely, don't make a guess like 200.3

The heaviest I've been in the last 15 years (since living in the U.S. of A.) is 240, the lightest is 173.6 (for a few minutes, before I breathed in a particle of dust).

I don't have a method for tracking any facebook likes, tweets and what have you or I might have made it a triple offer, but if you'd like to hit the like button, I'd appreciate it!

That should do it, so good luck!

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

.

Oh ye of little faith.....YEP, you WON!

Contest Winner!

That would be this contest I started in June or July...

It seems I'm immune to shame.
217.4 this morning, so the winner of my 'guess my weight in the New Year' contest is TX Cupcake.
Congratulations. I move a few pounds in the wrong direction and you get to pick out a mouse from Chubby, Nosey and Sprightly (little Santa hat not included)!

So I have two things spinning in my head.
1. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
2. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

So in order to achieve the second, without incurring the first, I'm going to re-run the exact same contest for the next six months (guess my weight on July 1), with one small difference.

The plan I had for last time (move about more, eat a bit less): I'm going to implement it this time.
I have the whole New Year's resolution thing working in my favor.
See if that helps!

I'm keeping everyone entered from last time, so if you don't want to change your guess just do nothing.
If you want to change it, shoot me an email with 'change contest guess' in the subject line.

If you didn't enter the last one, have at it. Same rules apply (click HERE to read the original post - entry period expires at the end of Jan 2011), results on July 1, 2011, when someone again will win a mouse!

Other News...

I have a few new mice I'm going to unveil in a fairly imminent post.
I'm going to launch them into the world in a slightly unconventional fashion, so check back in a week or so and see what's up with that!

Part of it involves making a video, but my voice is all bunged up and croaky with a cold so as soon as that's over I'll get right on the case.

Sisko Gallery in Seattle is opening a show of my work on Thursday Jan 6th.

Happy New Year to you all!

I hope your resolutions all work out for you, and thanks of course for staying tuned to this channel!

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

Your guesses are in...

I've got all your guesses for my most recent win-a-mouse contest.

Thanks for weighing in with your thoughts, here they are from low to high.
No more entries from this point on, since my monthly email alert includes my weight thus far until Jan 1st. Sign up by clicking HERE if you want to get monthly links to the previous month's posts...

As you can see there's quite a spread, demonstrating a wide range of your faith in my fat-shrinking skills!

The winning result on Jan 1, 2011!
My plan is to make it someone near the top of the list, but we'll see...

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

Another easy win-a-mouse contest! Enter now, find out if you won in the new year! (Entry deadline Aug 31)

Another chance to WIN a mouse!

Guess the future weight of the chubby artist (that's me)! 

Sort of like 'guess the length of the snake', only rounder.
And more futuristic.

Because you're not guessing my weight right now (which is 212.2 lbs, as of Aug 1 2010), but what you think it will be on Jan 1st, 2011.

Actually I've been sneaking my weight into the end of my monthly email updates all year (see sidebar to sign up for them) hoping the semi-public display might kick myself up the rear end enough to dump some unnecessary poundage.

Didn't work so far.

Time to get more public about it and (hopefully) force myself into action!

Useful stats...

Here's some useful stats to help you make an educated guess...
I'm 5'10" tall if I stand up really straight.
Lightest I've been in the last couple of decades...173.6 for about 5 minutes several years ago.
Heaviest I've ever been.........................................239.8 for quite a while, but over a decade ago.

You've got all month to post a guess in the comments (more than one guess and you're disqualified!) or email me (put 'chubby artist' in the subject line), of what you think I'll be on Jan 1, 2011.
That is, of course, right after the holidays!
My scale measures with the number after the decimal point always an even number, so every 2/10ths of a pound.
Last chance to guess is Aug 31

Who knows, you might be best off guessing more than I am now, but I hope not!

I'll weigh myself on Jan 1st (I'll keep sneaking my current weight into the monthly email updates, so you can see how you're doing if you like).

And give a mouse to whoever comes closest, and hopefully be considerably lighter when I do.
Re-cap...
If the winner doesn't claim their prize by the end of Jan, I'll give it to the next closest instead.

Get Email Updates

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

Sumo wrestling toads will fight it out at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan

ArtPrize is in its second year.
With over $450,000 in prize money up for grabs it's the biggest art contest I know of, the public decides the winner, and it would be rude not to have a bash!
There's over 1,700 artists entered this year!

Here's a photoshop scramble to show what my piece might look like...

Here's how ArtPrize works...
It's very interestingly run.
Artists sign up to the website with their proposed idea (not necessarily finished).
Venues sign up, announcing they'd like to host some art.
Artists and venues approach each other, and when they'd like to team up, sign a contract.
When a registered artist signs up with a registered venue, you're officially entered!
Any type of venue can take part from museums to tatoo parlors, as can any type of artist (with or without tatoos).
The public sees the art on display all around the city and they vote for their favorites.

There will also be some additional prizes awarded by sponsors instead of voted on by the public, but the $450,000 put up by the organizer is divided up between the top ten winners, publicly voted on, with a top prize of $250,000!

My entry...
My Sumo Wrestling Toads form the centerpiece of my entry, called 'Amphibian Struggle'.
You can see my public profile on the ArtPrize website by clicking HERE.
There'll be a video looping near the bronzes, which includes over 100 cartoon frogs I drew on my iPhone with the brushes app, amongst other things.

It's an expensive proposition- casting, crating and sending bronzes around, so luckily I was able to enlist the help of Peter Wright.
He has been responsible for assuming the financial burden of some of my larger, usually more esoteric pieces.
Once the sculpting is finished, he takes them from my sculpting table to the foundry, and on through the production cycle in exchange for a share of the profits.

I can safely say I wouldn't have enjoyed such an immediate and thorough immersion into the sculpture community had I not been lucky enough to partner up with Peter very early on.
So lucky for me he's paying for the costs incurred to enter, and so if I win any prize money, he's getting half the winnings! There'd be a slight variation if I won first prize...

My pledge...
If I win the $250,000 first prize, since my theme is the struggle amphibians face to survive, I'll be donating $50,000 off the top to Amphibian Ark. Peter and I will have to make do with half each of what's left!
Amphibian Ark are an organization dedicated to saving as many species of amphibians from extinction as possible.
Amphibians are currently facing more threats than they can handle, and while plenty of species have us to thank for their impending doom, ironically we are also their best and only hope for survival.

And that's what Amphibian Ark are dedicated to doing, by providing captive breeding programs for species who can't currently survive in the wild, until whatever threat facing them passes.

$50,000 is their estimated cost to save a single species, so I'll give them that much to throw my lot in with others working to save the yellow legged frog of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

So if you're in Grand Rapids, Michigan, between Sept 23 and Oct 10, why not pop on over to the public museum and check out my entry.
By all means vote for it too, if you'd like!



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

Winning new turtle names picked, and blog posting winner announced!

Wow, what a lot of names to consider!
And that's just in the comments - there were loads more that came by email.

Quite a few made the second and third rounds of my favorites.

I remember quite clearly being given a new set of felt tipped pens in a clear plastic envelope when I was a kid, and one of the first things I drew and proudly colored was Touche Turtle, a Hanna Barbera cartoon character.
That probably sealed it for me when the three musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis rose to the top as names for my turtles (Touche Turtle was a swashbuckling sword carrier with a big feather in his hat!).

Since Art Wench was the first to suggest those names, she wins her pick of a mouse from Sprightly, Nosey or Chubby!

The other mouse prize was determined in my favorite fashion: Give everyone's name a number, roll a dice, gather the winning numbers/names together, re-assign new numbers and roll again.
That was enough to seal the deal for beckielboo.

So nicely done Beckie Saar Leone of Florida (time to pick your mouse!), and thanks so much to everyone for entering either with names, or blog posts.
I hope you enjoyed it. Meridee and I had lots of fun going through all the suggestions!

Tomorrow we're going back up into the aspen forest and see if there's any naked people leaping through flames and dancing around those strange structures we found up there...(I'll take my camera!)

And if you would like monthly updates of each last month's posts, along with occasional contest alerts, sign up for email updates (click the updates link in the sidebar to sign up).


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

Great mouse giveaway - another contest to celebrate my 100th blog post! 2 ways to win 'Name that Turtle-and that one, and that one too'...

There you have it, I've been blathering on for 100 posts!
So I thought I'd have another contest and give away a mouse.
But wait, there's more!
I'm going to give away two mice.

So there's 2 ways you can win...
One normal way anyone can try, and another way you can try if you have a blog.
So if you have a blog, you can try both!

First way to win...

I've just had my new mid sized turtles finished and photographed.

But they don't have any names.

So, whoever comes up with the trio of names for these turtles I like best wins a mouse (the winner can pick any mouse from Sprightly, Nosey and Chubby).
You have to post your names as a comment, or email them if you have trouble with the comment thing working (put 'name that turtle' in the subject line).

They can be any kind of names you like. Descriptive names, like my mice, or actual names, like my tiny bunnies.

As you can see, one turtle is minding its own business, one is quite bold, and one a bit shy.

If, by some strange coincidence someone comes up with the same names as someone else, the earlier poster wins.
If I pick 3 names from 2 or more posts, I'll give it to the person with 2 names I picked, or roll a dice for the winner if it's a name each from three posters.
If it's 3 names in one later post, all of which were posted earlier by separate people, the all in one gets it.
You can have 2 tries each, 3 names per try. So you can have an early go, and hold off for a bit for a second go.
If some other permutation of unforseen strangeness prevails requiring a judging decision, I'll decide as fairly as I can and my decision will be final (hey, it's my blog after all!).

So what are you waiting for!
Name that turtle (and that one, and that one...)!
Deadline is my next post, when I'll announce the winners.

Second way to win...
If you have a blog (it must have existed before today!), you can enter by posting an announcement of this contest with a link to this post on your blog.
Let me know by commenting on this post, or email me ('blog entry' in the subject line) and you'll be in the blog draw for a mouse of your choice (from Nosey, Sprightly and Chubby).

Any bloggers who enter before the end of this weekend (before June 14) gets a double entry - their name goes in the hat twice!

So there you go! Have fun and good luck!
I'm looking forward to naming my turtles next week (deadline is my next post, when I'll announce the winners).
.................................................................
Oh, it was a tiger salamander in last week's post, lurking under the water at the garden place. Looked about a foot long, and was quite lively.


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

Winners of snake contest...!

That's right, winners as in plural!

It was actually a pretty big snake.
Since people always over estimate snakes they've actually seen, I guessed a conservative 5 feet to myself.
I couldn't help notice how its pattern changed from anaconda like blobs at the back end, to more typical bull snake patterns at the front.

So how do you measure a snake without killing it?

Last weekend I went back with printouts of my snake pics, a long cord, and an extending tape measure (25 feet long, just to be sure!).
After a little while finding the exact spot, I laid out the cord (which used to work our blinds before they broke and needed fixing), adjusted its wiggles to match the snake's position exactly, picked up the string and measured it.

It was a bit tricky finding the exact placement at first, but I noticed as I was matching tufts of grass and stones that there was a groove worn in the ground, so either the weight of the snake did that in one pass, or it's a regular route it takes.


The string was 6ft 3inches, or 75 inches.

So I've been saving emails and making notes on who was within 2 inches either way, since I reckon I might have not been super exact.

I had guesses ranging from less than three feet to more than nine!
Quite a spread.
What really amazed me was that not only did someone nail my exact measurement, but a whole bunch of people guessed within my self imposed margin for error.

Sara J Ingle got it on the nose!
Congratulations Sara, you've won a little bronze turtle!
Best email me your address (no impostors please!).

But I felt it wouldn't be fair not to give the others who were so close a shot at a prize too, so I assigned each either odd or even status, rolled a dice to eliminate half so the numbers were small enough for a single dice roll, re-numbered everyone who was left and bingo, number four it was.

So Norma Evans is the bonus winner!
She emailed her guess of 75.5 inches.
I'll send a bonus critter your way Norma (might be a tiny bunny!)

Thanks to everyone for your guesses, that was fun!

I'll no doubt do something similar sometime, so stay tuned (or just sign up for monthly email alerts. At the start of each month you'll get the last month's posts, and also any contest alerts. There's a link in the sidebar if you want to sign up).


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

And the winner is...

Well I hope you all enjoyed that, and congratulations Max Love.
That's a great name, although it's definitely got my spider senses tingling!

Thanks to a gentle ripple of good fortune in the calm backwater of fate you are this time's lucky winner of Sprightly mouse.
My method of selection went as follows: (as random as pulling from a hat, but less fiddly to accomplish!)

Export, then print out the email addresses and names of everyone on my email list.
Divide it into 6 chunks (numbered 1-6).
Meridee, from her reposeful vantage point high up on the bed threw a dice into the corner of the room. Well, her first try landed on the bed, so she threw again!
It was a four, so I continued with group four.

I divided it up, and Meridee rolled again.
The winning names were then numbered 1-5 (all names and email addresses in this group began with the letter 'M').
We rolled the dice together for the last one. It was a two.
Max Love won. So he'll get a solid bronze Sprightly mouse to call his own (or it could be a her of course) and the lucky dice that won it for him or her.

I hope you enjoyed that (I know I did).

Next time I announce a competition it won't be on my blog, it will be exclusively through my email list for everyone who's on it by then, and their friends. Probably sometime in late November.
So thanks everyone for signing up, and keep your eyes peeled in November! Next time my contest will be a tiny bit more involved than just signing up, but not much.

My next post will likely be a return to work in progress on my new pieces for my upcoming Nov 6 show at Manitou Galleries in Santa Fe.

If you haven't signed up and you want a shot in November, you know what to do!

Get Email Updates

My website. My Etsy store.

Win your very own Sprightly Mouse!

Normally I post on the weekend, but I'm a day or two early since I'm so eager to give away a Sprightly mouse!

This competition couldn't be easier.
On Friday Oct 2nd (where did September go!?) I'm going to randomly pull a winning name out of the hat.

Whose names are in the hat?
Everyone who subscribes to receive monthly emails from me. And I'll announce the winner in next week's post right after the draw.

It doesn't matter if you have already subscribed, or if you are just about to.
If you've got on the list before I make the draw on Oct 2nd, you're in with a chance.

Anyway, the emails you'll get are just a list of the last month's blog posts, in case you don't check in often and might miss something you'd find interesting.

The subscription list is safe and secure, and never shared with anyone else of course.

So what are you waiting for?
Sprightly says 'Go ahead, click the colored Get Email Updates link below!'

After you put in your email address make sure you click the box for 'SteveWorthingtonArt'. I believe the default is for Storyboard Squad, since Meridee and I lead double lives.
We're also storyboard artists, besides being a painter and sculptor.

And good luck of course!

Get Email Updates

My website. My Etsy store.

WIN your own SPRIGHTLY MOUSE!

Time for a new post, and this time I'm going to GIVE AWAY a Sprightly mouse in my first ever competition. He sells for $250 in numerous galleries and on my website.
If you email in the winning photo by January 15, 2009 you will get a FREE solid bronze Sprightly mouse mailed to you, I'll even pick up the shipping so it's totally FREE to you.

Q. OK, who can enter?
A. Anyone, any age, anywhere - get the whole family involved!

Q. How?
A. It's EASY.
Since Sprightly has turned out to be a bit of a crowd pleaser, here's how you enter.
Just take a picture of as many people as you can get to hold up SPRIGHTLY WANTED posters all at once.
One poster per person, and as many people in the photo as you can get.
Here's how you get your posters...Save to your computer then print out the WANTED poster of Sprightly and photocopy it to fit nice and big on a letter size sheet of paper (you mustn't cut off any of the words).
Make more photocopies and get your bunch of people to hold them up (ONE copy only must be held up by each person).

I will disqualify anything that looks fishy (I'm pretty photoshop savvy, so don't cheat!).
If you say there are ten people in the picture (no image manipulation allowed), I need to be able to see them all, and that they are holding up ONE copy of the picture each.
The WINNER will be the person who sends the picture which shows the most people participating as described. So if someone else sends a pic with eleven people holding up the posters, your ten won't cut it!
Also, I won't post any results until the contest is over, so no one else will know what number they have to beat!
You can enter more than once. Let's say you find yourself surrounded by more willing participants at New Year than you had in your entry picture from Thanksgiving. Just re-enter!
So you might as well have a go ASAP, in case you forget later. You've got nothing to lose!

Send an email to me from the CONTACT PAGE of my website, subject header 'Sprightly mouse contest # people'.
Replace '#' in the subject line with the number of people who were holding up the picture of Sprightly when the photo was taken.

For instance, 'Sprightly mouse contest, 11 people'.

Don't try and attach your picture yet, because you can't.
I'll reply to you with my direct email address so you can then attach your picture when you reply back to that.
You mustn't mind if I use your entry picture on my website or blog (so you should make sure everyone in the pic knows that too).
Remember I won't post anything until after Jan 15, the closing date of the contest. Your photo with only three participants might end up the winner, who knows?

In the event of a draw I will use a coin toss to determine the winner.
Since it's my mouse and my contest, my decision is final.
Anyone I disqualify for a seemingly 'fishy' looking entry (any kind of doctored photo, not using real live people to hold up the pictures, etc/whatever) won't be allowed to protest. I'm the judge and jury on this one, so there! My decision is final!
So, get stuck in!
HAVE FUN!
And GOOD LUCK!