More slow-moving chameleon action...(another bas relief plaque in the works)

Hot on the heels of my first chameleon bas relief plaque comes....
 .......ta daaa.........
....another chameleon bas relief plaque!

They aren't cast in bronze yet, but  have been molded and I have a couple of plaster casts to keep me going while the whole bronze casting machinery slowly grinds into motion.

Bronze pics coming soon...

Just like watching a chameleon in 'action', bronze casting is not a particularly speedy process.

Here's a couple of  'in progress' pics...

Meanwhile, at a top secret mouse breeding facility hidden deep inside the German countryside...

'Rein und raus' squeaks each tiny mouse (in perfectly synchronized unison of course).

Actually they aren't really in Germany, the pic just conjured up thoughts of German efficiency for some reason!

They are waxes awaiting investment and casting and metal chasing and finally then to receive their patinas.

Available for pre-order through my Kickstarter project (until Feb 26 2011) at a sizable discount before they hit the galleries...click HERE to learn more.

Meanwhile, since TX Cupcake never appeared to collect their prize,  tip top painter and next closest guesser (as per the rules) in my contest, Deborah Paris got her Nosey in the mail yesterday.

She's made painting her immediate surroundings her mission and her sensitive paintings on her blog are a must see...

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

'Crossing Over' - New mouse sculpture underway (and also pre-selling on Kickstarter)

I wasn't going to announce this piece until it was finished, but since I just added it to my Kickstarter project (available at nearly half what it will cost once it's in galleries and on my website) I'll also add it here.

It's called 'Crossing Over', and features Sprightly, Nosey and Chubby looking forward, backward, and enjoying life in the moment while on their journey aboard a primitive dugout style canoe filled with tasty seeds.

The pictures show it unfinished since the patina on the canoe, and the base are not done.

When it's finished the steel base will cradle the bronze sculpture, holding it aloft.

TX Cupcake, your time is running out to claim your mouse...
the next person in line is chomping at the bit to claim it in your stead when your time runs out at the end of the month...

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

First bas relief plaque ready for molding...(can you tell what it is yet?)

Here's a side view of my bas relief plaque....

As you can see it's like a large wafer with some thinly sliced cheese on it...and out of focus, of course!

Can you tell what it is yet?

Things are getting clearer now...

Rather spookily lit!
Yes, it's a chameleon!
I was nuts about them as a kid, and would stand watching them literally for hours (it takes that long for them to do anything) when I was visiting London Zoo with my dad (who no doubt was bored to tears, hoping for a dramatic crocodile escape to happen behind me or something. Hang on, he used to do train spotting when he was a kid. Well I guess that explains it then).

I would make sure to go on a Friday which was feeding day in the reptile house. Any other day and all you might see in the way of reptiles might be obscured patches of scales snoozing beneath logs or behind leaves. Reptiles can sleep for days.

Chameleons have been known to keep their heart rates elevated with an thrilling game of 'watching the paint dry' for as long as they can stand the excitement.
Then they have to calm down and take a rest.
Probably followed by some naps and an early  night.

Originally I planned this plaque (which I made on a piece of 5" x 7" masonite) to go in a 5" x 7" frame, but I didn't like how shaded the top got pushed up inside the frame so I stuck it onto a 6" x 8" piece of masonite so the image area would poke forward from behind a bit more when installed in a 6" x 8" frame.

This will be cast in bronze and some will also be made in another more experimental way, which I'll elaborate on when it's been done and I have pics.
For now, I tweeked the photo in photoshop of it in a frame to see how it might look with a green patina just because I'm impatient that way!

Maybe it's a sea-sick chameleon heading around the Cape of Good Hope on Charles Darwin's 'Beagle'.

You can see this plaque finished if you click HERE.

As for my recent Kickstarter project, it's off to a flying start having got 94% of the required backing in less than a week!
Thanks backers!

And TX Cupcake, if you're out there, you've got until the end of Jan to claim your mouse prize!

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

New mice launched through Kickstarter...Meet Pugnacious Mouse, and Rumpy and Pumpy Mice.

I said I'd be a little unconventional with the reveal of my new mice, so here I go...

I discovered Kickstarter recently and immediately knew I'd have to give it a try!

It's a brilliant way for people to get creative, meaningful or fun things done.
Or to pre-sell soon to be released creations for a limited time at a great price.

If you haven't heard of it before they're well worth a look.
Basically you launch a creative project stating the funding goal needed to complete it, and if people's pledges add up to your goal you get funded, and if not then no money changes hands.

But the great bit is the rewards.
You can offer different rewards if people pledge at least 'x' amount, or 'y' amount.
For my project (to turn my clay mice into bronze) the rewards for backers include getting one or more of the new mice at around 1/2 price thanks to their early commitment.

The down side is you then have to wait for them to get cast!

If you've seen clay originals displayed in galleries for pre-cast orders to be placed at a special rate, my project is an online version of that.

Anyhow, click HERE to see my project on Kickstarter...

And if you have any projects of your own that need financial help to get them off the ground, definitely give Kickstarter a look!

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

Uniquely produced bas relief plaques and a snow storm...

I'm excited to be working with someone who's developing a unique way of producing metal plaques that reproduce the original art at unbelievably high fidelity (as good if not better than lost wax casting), yet are very light so they can be displayed in frames without pulling chunks off your wall.

I'll have a couple of small bas relief sculptures ready for him in the next week or two to continue his experiments (I'll keep you posted on progress).

Meridee and I were visiting her relatives up and down the east coast these holidays, and we managed to squeeze a couple of days in New York City on each end (it's good to have friends who live in NYC!), and we made it to the Brandywine Museum too so we could enjoy the work of N.C. Wyeth in the flesh.

We both love N.C.'s illustrations. And I've only ever seen them in books. In the flesh they are incomparably better! They just glow and radiate atmosphere and life.
Meridee loves the way you feel as though you are looking into a crystal ball at another world when viewing his work.
Apparently the amazing success of Treasure Island that he illustrated paid for his purchase of the buildings that the museum now occupies.

We also got to spend some time at the Metropolitan Museum in NY and wander through the park in the snow.

Nice day for a white wedding!

As well as randomly bouncing around aimlessly inside I particularly enjoyed hunting down work by Rodin, Barye, Anna Hyatt Huntington, and others.

Rodin's 'Thinker'

We got stuck in the blizzard, and were stranded at Penn Station for several hours until a power cut was fixed somewhere on the train line we needed so the whole place filled up to bursting with people while we waited.

Upper East side

driving on the sidewalk

As soon as the first train to Trenton was announced it was as though a giant tray of ball bearings had been slowly tilted to one side as the mad crush of people converged on the escalators heading down to the platform.
Not much choice but to go with the flow!

I was hoping to announce my new mice and show them this week in an unconventional manner. It had to wait since I've had a cold (I don't want to be spluttering all the way through the video portion!) but I'm hoping I can have it ready later this week...

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