Sumo toads take their place in the sun...

Manitou Galleries second home in Santa Fe at 225 Canyon Road

Manitou is the gallery in Santa Fe that shows my work.

Recently they snagged a second location in a cul de sac at the bottom of Canyon Road which actually has a wonderful sculpture garden, so it seemed fitting to let my sumo toads out for a romp around in the sun.

Since they are so aggressive by nature, we transported them from the other gallery in separate crates so they wouldn't be able to fight on the way across town, but as soon as we opened the lids they hopped out across the gravel to wrestle over who gets ownership of the large chunk of rock they both decided was so desirable.

They're still at it even now.

They seem to like being out of doors.

If you live around Santa Fe the gallery is having its official opening on Friday June 24 from 5-8pm.
Hop on over and say 'hello'!
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Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

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Show announcements...

Just me tooting my horn for a few show announcements in this post...

'Crossing Over' will be part of the Society of Animal Artists 51st annual show...

My smaller sumo toads have been selected (I'm pleased as Punch and proud to say) for the Western Visions 'Miniatures and More' show in Jackson, WY at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

'Crossing Over' has been selected for the Society of Animal Artists 51st annual show.
They're both around September time.

I had to write an artist's statement on Crossing Over for the Society of Animal Artists show, so here it is, sandwiched between the next two pics....

Life is a journey.
As much for mice as for us.

Sadly for mice, they usually end up as a tasty snack.
Happily for us, we're more likely to glide up to the other shore in our old age.

Either way life is fleeting.
Might as well enjoy the ride.

I'm also honored to be a part of the Albuquerque Museum's Miniatures and More show, which is closer to the end of the year.

Table top sized 'Sumo Wrestling Toads' will be at Western Visions, Miniatures and More, at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY

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

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Impatience vs Perfectionism...

So you have an idea for a piece.
And you're itching to see it done.
You have some clue of how certain things must look - how good they have to be - in order to make seeing it finished worth while.
If you're anything like me these two opposing forces of impatience and perfectionism pop up as a dialogue time and again when you're working on a piece.

Just like the little devil on one shoulder, and the little angel on the other, lazy Steve and perfectionist Steve perch whispering in my ears...

'Go on, just slap a bunch of clay on there and fill out the shape, you'll get an idea of how it will look finished much sooner that way'

'Don't listen to him, get the proportions right, you'll only have to pull it all off and do it over when you realize the proportions are all wrong'

'Come on, this is taking forever, why don't you just fill out that bit really quickly and see how it looks'

'You know if you don't work out from the skeleton and carefully add the muscles before you concern yourself with the surfaces it'll look like a lifeless blob, then where will you be?

'Don't listen to him, your sketch is lively enough, did you start from inside out with that?'

'You're only going to make it once in clay, it will be around forever in bronze, and it will have your name on it. You want to cringe and wince every time you see it?'

First little clay sketch I did of sumo wrestling toads

Completed clay (table top size)

Sumo wrestling toads large version in bronze

There's lots of other thoughts and feelings swirling around besides these, but  these tugs of war never go away for long!

Although I do take pride and pleasure in the things I've made, as soon as something's done, then there's always the next thing.
But the last thing still has to take on its final appearance in bronze.
And there's always a lot to be done before that happens.

And time itself continues the work where I left off, hopefully revealing depth and character and continuing to tell the story of each work through the changing patina of age.

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

Miracle of the bottletop Virgin Mary of butter...Bottoms up! (the miraculous bottle's topless, but the Madonna isn't!)

So Meridee and I were just in Taos sharing a croissant and cup of coffee.
Taos is full of churches and religious icons everywhere you look.
I always supposed people had made them all, but now I wonder...

I scraped the butter off my knife into a bottle cap, and squeezed it so I could pop it in the top of the bottle.
I looked away for a moment, and Meridee came over all pale and ashen looking.
Imagine my surprise when LO, the Virgin Mary herself was miraculously standing there before us, balanced on the top of the empty bottle!

A feeling of great calm spread over me as I snapped a pic of the miracle on my parrot.

We're home now, and I'm still feeling quite calm.

Unlike these guys...

This other pic will make sense to anyone who is in Grand Rapids, MI over the next couple of weeks...

 It's ArtPrize time of course, starting Wednesday.

Here's how my turtles swimming finished up, I'll post more 'making of' pics next time...

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

Peter Wright's batcave and the art of crating bronze sculptures.

Recently I paid another visit to Peter Wright's batcave.
He's the man who offered to take on the risk of casting some of my larger pieces in exchange for half of what's left when they find homes after the gallery cut and casting costs are subtracted.
For which I am, of course, extremely grateful.
He's also a fine glass artist in his own right (no pun intended!). I love the colors he uses in his pieces. For me they are quite exquisite. (click HERE to see his work).

And he has a secret bat-cave, which is where you're seeing him here!

That big crate has got my Sumo Wrestling Toads in it.
I've never seen Peter in a cape, but he can appear and disappear very quickly, and he's always talking by phone from some far flung part of the country or other, so I keep wondering just how he does it...

We're sending Sumo Toads to the Natural History Museum in San Diego (for the Society of Animal Artists 50th annual show) and another pair to Grand Rapids, Michigan (for ArtPrize), along with Big Boy, and some other toads.

The Sumo's are crated, with cross bars inside to keep them from wobbling around. Some kind of plasticky rigid foam is glued to the crates, and the cross bars, and other sheets of it are wedged in here and there.
Everything is marked and coded with numbers and letters so anyone who un-packs it, can later re-pack it exactly the same. The cross bars are screwed in from the outside of the crate.

Big Boy is put in a double thickness corrugated cardboard box, with slabs of softer foam that's more squashy. Each is numbered with a hole in it, so when they're all stacked together horizontally Big Boy nestles cocooned inside his new world of soft foam.
Super thick heavy rope handles round out the procedure.
This is how Peter sends his glass as well. It would take a pretty determined person with a fork-lift to do any damage to it (oh no, I haven't just jinxed it have I?).
Of course everything's also insured, just in case...

My Bumper to Bumper is part of the National Sculpture Society's 77th annual exhibition in Brookgreen Gardens, SC.
Since the base is granite great care is needed for the packing process.
The wooden crate has a foam lining, and sides which slot into place allowing no movement.

The foam top locks it all into place, and the lid is screwed on.

Again, everything is very carefully marked and coded so anyone can re-pack it correctly later.

Besides that, here's a table full of recently patinated bits and pieces which will all hopefully be enjoying life in their new homes very soon (if they aren't already!). Looks like it's almost time for a new tin of paste wax (for brushing on the bronzes while they're freshly hot from the patina process).

As you can see I indulged in a little beer towel thievery during my student years. How could I resist, after all, it had my name written all over it!
I think this one came from my local in Portreath, Cornwall at the time, the Waterfront Inn.

Oh, and don't forget of course, the end of this month is the DEADLINE for entering my latest win-a-mouse contest (click HERE).

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

Loveland's Sculpture In the Park show, and my Sumo Toads score an online win!

Last weekend was my annual trip (so far, anyway!) to Loveland to take part in the Sculpture In the Park show.

It's the only show I've done each year as a 'stand behind your art and meet your collectors' type participant, mainly because they make it so easy for you, it's kind of hard not to.
And of course I've been lucky enough to get let in (although the last 3 have been automatic since that's their deal after they buy your sculpture for the park)!

Most shows require you to bring your own tent, pedestals, signage, etc etc.
At this show you have to use the provided pedestals, can't use your own signage (to maintain a consistent look and keep it all about the art) and they have an army of volunteers from scouts to retirees, all positively delighted to do whatever they can to make it a pleasure for all involved. And there's security guards all weekend, and great food and beverages during the patron party on the Friday afternoon!).

Of course you have to get there and back, load up and unload your vehicle full of bronze a couple of times (unless you want to chance it going missing in a hotel parking lot overnight), but for me it's a vital opportunity to see people respond to my work first hand which I really enjoy, and also a chance to see lots of other great sculpture and meet a few friends while I'm at it.

Benson Scupture Park, in Loveland, Colorado

It's a great park with some of my favorite features: Ponds!

There's usually a bit of a scramble for pedestals, but plenty of help on hand...

Fork lifts, cranes, and all sorts of assistance for those with really big pieces...

The view across one of my neighbor's areas (super friendly and helpful guy, and veteran of all 27 events, Curtis Zabel)

One of the four main tents full of artists...

A few of my bits and pieces...

It didn't look this serene and empty once everyone was all set up and the doors were opened to the public!

My spooky looking 'Monkey/Turtle Discus Thrower'

The icing on the cake- one of my pieces on the catalog cover!

Thanks to everyone involved, everyone who popped in to say 'hi', and especially thanks if you're one of the fine folks who took something of mine home with you! I certainly appreciate your support.

Besides that, I was tickled pink when I found out today that my 'Sumo Wrestling Toads' won an award of distinction at the Art Kudos annual online show.
Thanks Art Kudos!
Me, and my toads, are pleased as Punch!

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

My Venn diagram, where to find the BEST Venn diagrams on the web, and why it's nice to be wrong.

I've had some fairly strange ideas for sculptures. When they pop in my head I wonder if anyone else will like them, figure 'probably not', but because I've just been dying to see what they would look like finished, I'd go ahead and make them anyway.
That's group C, with no group B overlap.

Then I've made other bunches of stuff I've been itching to do, which I think will also be appealing.
That would be groups A and C, each with some group B overlap.

And then there's been more stuff I can't wait to make, that I'm really not so sure would be popular.
I'm glad I've not only made stuff I thought would overlap with group B, or there would be no Sumo Toads or mice, both of which are enjoyed by more people than I would ever have guessed!

So sometimes it's nice to be wrong!

One thing that's common to everything I've made is it's all stuff I've been itching to do, and like to have around.
And I plan to keep it that way!

Click HERE for the BEST, most entertaining Venn (and other) diagrams in the universe from Jessica Hagy...

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

Sumo toads centerfold (sort of!) and Sprightly mouse in Yosemite!

I get tickled pink every time someone sends me pics of their sculptures in their homes, or other unusual or interesting places!

My friend Mil collected some of my mice a few years ago, right after I made them. He was one of the first handful of people to snatch them up.

Well, he got back from Yosemite with his family recently and sent me these pics!

Thanks Mil!

And, to start the new year off on a nice optimistic note, some neighbors called and dropped by to let me know I was in the Albuquerque Journal's art section!

Or, to be more precise my sumo wrestling toads were.

I'm glad they told me, I had no idea!

WooHoo!

Someone's a happy camper.

And thanks Bob and Joe for the alerts and clippings!

I'll add that to my recent articles in Western Art collector (Nov) and Southwest Art (July) and declare that I've had quite a splendid run of good luck this last year!

It's had its ups and downs, but it sure is nice to just remember the ups!

I think my next few posts might focus on an artist friend who had the biggest impact on my early days in the business of drawing for a living, John Watkiss.

Stay tuned, his stuff is spectacularly good...

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

Snakes alive (and snakes dead), people's choice and bright shiny things.

People.
Gotta love 'em.
Thanks folks, for voting my Sumo Wrestling Toads the 'People's Choice' during their stay at Brookgreen Gardens as part of the National Sculpture Society's annual show (which is over now).
I am stupendously happy to have got your votes. I think that's a pretty big deal.
Yeah!

Twice in the space of a week I've had to jump out of my car to shoo a coachwhip snake off the road.
On one occasion I was in an awful hurry to get home due to certain biological emergencies that result from a fondness for green chiles on everything, washed down with copious amounts of strong coffee.
I'd been driving us home like a vampire hurtling to his coffin against the quickly rising sun, only with the prospect of a much messier outcome should I lose my race against time.

Almost home... rounding the last corner... what's that across the driveway?
Right in my way, a 4 foot long coachwhip snake dammit! And a beautiful shade of raw salmon pink to boot.

Beeping the horn won't help, they're deaf to airborne sounds.

And for some odd reason, they aren't scared of cars.
But when you hop out and they detect your human form they flail away like a mad thing.
Much like my attempts to get the keys in the door.

Then a few days later I saw another one across the road laying there without a care in the world about a block or two away.
So I hopped out and pranced around it, to see what it would do.
First they try to make a mad dash for the edge of the road, but they thrash so hard against the smooth asphalt that they slip and slide about instead of moving forwards.

So I danced past it and it turned at me and raised it's head with its mouth wide open.
Just until it figured it could zip past me and off through some rabbit bush and away.

Then I spied our 'pet' bull snake in the garden while I was looking for our weed spraying bottle.
He was patrolling among some large flower pots near the bbq grill.

I noticed he had particularly rich reddish brown blotches. Must have recently shed his skin.

He casually nosed around, and took up residence inside the bottom of the grill.


Besides that, I saw another Coachwhip snake right on the road outside our house one evening when we drove home from somewhere or other.
I hopped out, but sadly it was dead.

I was wondering if one of our neighbors might have killed it by running it over. There's only 5 other houses on our cul-de-sac, so it couldn't be too hard to narrow it down.
But it was kind of right on the road where we'd be after we've backed out of the driveway.
So now I'm plagued with the thought that I in-advertantly killed it, after saving it a couple of times.
Could have been some one else, but then again, could have been me.

Will I ever sleep again?

Probably.

Other than that I'm pondering just how super bright and shiny to do the patina on my tree frogs when they get cast.
I fancy taking a leap into the super bright arena for a change, since I think the subject matter could handle it.

No news regarding progress of my pieces, it's all a bit out of my hands for a little while 'till they come back from the foundry for finishing and patina.
But I think I'll be bugging Lee for a progress report this week...

My website, and Etsy store.

Wrestling toads on the road

My sumo wrestling toads are doing a bit of sightseeing on Park Ave in NYC in the Atrium Bldg.
A friend in NY was nice enough to take some pics, as you can see if you have sharp eyes, she saw them being admired by Tony Soprano. Maybe they look like some of his acquaintances.
Here's various other views.




The exhibition is the 76th annual by the National Sculpture Society at the organization’s headquarters in the Park Avenue Atrium at 237 Park Avenue/466 Lexington Avenue, in midtown Manhattan. Opening on Monday, February 16, the juried show features the figurative works of 41 members. At the conclusion of the show in New York City, the exhibition will travel to Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina where it will be on display from June 27 through August 23.

Thanks Diane for taking the pics, she does beautiful flower photos which you can see at duaflower.com