Originally an advertising artist, New Mexico Sculptor, Steve Worthington, redirected his rigorous training towards one of his boyhood passions; sculpting animals. After graduating art school, Steve continued to study drawing and human anatomy with monastic focus under the watchful eye of art anatomy guru John Watkiss, in London, England. While working there Steve made frequent visits to museums and galleries to study art, and particularly, to draw from sculpture. Thorough immersion in the disciplines of drawing and an interest in painting & sculpture, and a life-long love of critters (great and small,) this has provided Steve with the tools needed to create his sculptures.
"For me, it was sculpture that popped my cork. There were haystacks of bronze all over town, and buried in them were a few pieces that really got me inspired to give it a go. Since I draw for a living, the technical part of sculpting came quite naturally. After all, the kind of drawing I do is all about describing 3 dimensional forms in 2 dimensions. You have to understand the 3 dimensional forms before you can do that. So if anything, describing 3 dimensional forms in 3 dimensions is just one less complication to worry about!”
"Animals are just amazing. I've always loved them. My storyboards, even the ones I'm most proud of, are destined to end up in the trash. Bronze, on the other hand, tends to stick around for a bit."
Steve is an elected sculptor member of the National Sculpture Society; a signature member of the Society of Animal Artists; and an associate member of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington DC.
He lives with his wife, Meridee Mandio, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.