What's the best advice you've ever received as an artist?

National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, Wyoming.

I am honored and quite proud to say that the National Museum of Wildlife Art has invited me back to participate again in this year's Western Visions Miniatures and More show in Jackson, WY.

In their catalog they feature very brief quotes from all the artists in answer to a question.
One of this year's is 'What's the best advice you've ever received as an artist?'

It's difficult to pick just one, but I think I'll go with some advice I got from Harold Speed.
His two books were my constant companions for a few years when I lived in London just after college.

'The practice and science of drawing', and 'Oil painting techniques and materials'.

They are very beaten-up looking now, kind of like well used volumes of spells at Hogwart's, or recipes that have been in the family for generations.

They were written at a time when color printing was starting to make it much easier for art students to get their hands of reproductions of artists of any era from all over the world.
While this was obviously a great thing, Harold was a little concerned that there would be too great a temptation to flit from one genre to another without spending enough time to drink in deeply of any one before moving to the next, resulting in a kind of 'artistic indigestion'.

Gee, I wonder what he would make of the world now if he could pop back for a quick look around!

Well anyway, the piece of advice I took to heart was to avoid being distracted and instead spend a good deal of time soaking up the finest stuff that I was personally capable of honestly appreciating that inspired me, and pretty much let that be my guide and let the rest be, particularly while I was learning my way and developing my craft. After that you can enjoy numerous trips to the buffet table, having had time to develop a solid foundation and strong personal style.

I now need to get that last paragraph down to about 1/3 as long so I can send it in to Western Visions for my answer!

Since it's such a great question I'll ask you, what's the best advice you've ever received as an artist?
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I've had bunches of emails entering my contest to win a Winged Angel Mouse, and there's still time before the end of the month to make a guess if you haven't yet, or mention it on your blog for the blog draw method of entry.
Details in the post before this one.

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

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A night at the museum, and my Nov 6 show progress...

Last night Meridee and I went to the Albuquerque Museum's miniatures and more show grand opening.
I'm lucky enough to have had three of my mice and tiny bunnies picked as two small sets of sculpture. I'd never been there before, but I was surprised by how grand it really was.
I've never seen so many people all dressed up to the nines around these parts before.
Maybe I've been hanging out in all the wrong places, but I felt strangely transported to New York City or something.

Anyhow, the way they sell stuff is quite interesting.
Every painting and sculpture has a price on it, and also has a number next to it, and a correspondingly numbered ballot box type thing mounted somewhere nearby.
You get a bunch of green paper slips when you go in, so you can fill out your info if you want to buy something, and drop it in the right box.

At the end of the evening the boxes are opened, and a name is drawn from each box, so that person gets to buy that piece.
Since paintings are one of a kind, most boxes will only have one winner.
But bronzes are different.
I had 5 available listed, so if there were more than five names in the box, the first five pulled would be winners.

Of course they don't actually win anything. Except the chance to buy their prize.

Since I'm one of those self obsessed artist types I contorted myself about so I could see down into my boxes (a bit tricky without blocking the light from getting in through the tiny slit in the top).

Of course I cunningly disguised my actions to resemble someone with some very serious muscle imbalances, thoughtfully peering closer at someone else's work.

It's what us artists do you know.
Is it the money, or the tickle to the ego that makes us do it?
It's either a bit of both, or a lot of both. Probably a lot.

The place was jammed with the elegantly dressed. But every once in a while I would glance around and see another strangely twisted person appearing to scrutinize some art, while hovering directly over a ballot box.

Well I was very happy to see more than one green slip in both my boxes.
So I felt rather pleased with myself when we left.
Which was a bit before the end, so I'll have to find out later how it all went.

Well, thanks to Lee Wilson, Mike Masse and Madd Castings I've got everything I need for my show.

Strangely I already sold all but one of my new small-ish turtles, so the one at Manitou will have to be for order taking only until I get more done.
So besides all the stuff already over there, there'll be tree frogs on balls, a mid size bumper to bumper, some wine bottle stoppers (turtle and rabbit), a toad on a leaf, and the small-ish turtle.

I should insist on putting it all in a sealed glass display case with a load of live crickets wandering about among them.

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