I am working hard all day and night to get ready for the always awesome Bead Bonanza! I went in early and got my booth mostly set up (and I am cheating by showing a picture of last year's set up above). I have my sales/packaging box to get ready tonight and a list of things that I forgot (extension cords, duct tape, sign). I have a kiln cooling now, and I will gather the contents and sort them at the show in the morning. Tonight, I will make as many neat brass and porcelain pendants as possible to bring along. I am excited to have a little bit of fancy stuff and new work to show. My table is looking a little sparse, and it is mostly old stuff that I am discounting and putting on sale, so the little bit of new work will add some freshness to my display. This is my local bead guild, and I have been doing this show regularly for over a decade, so they are always looking for something new from me. I hope to please them this time around. Oh! And as I walked in and was shown to my space, the show co-ordinators requested that I dress in the steampunkery like I did last fall. I had pondered it, but wasn't sure if i had the energy. Well, consider my arm twisted... maybe I will don the goggles tomorrow....

Here is the first picture of process on my steampunk robot glove that I blogged about the other day. This is just the finger part, it took some time to make the filigree parts into rings and then "hinge" them with jump rings. They are not fully hinged, but I do have some movement. The rings will stay on just the way they are, but my next step is attaching them to a plate that goes over my hand. I am quite pleased so far and would be happy if this was all I did for the hand, but the whole glove will be very exciting as well.

 

So as I have been working on it, I have been thinking about hands and touch in mythology, particularly the story of King Midas and the Midas touch. Also, whenever I work with brass, I think of alchemy and the mystery of turning objects into gold (which I just learned is called chrysopoeia. yay new word!) Midas and alchemy are linked in my mind, all twisted together. I started thinking about a magic golden glove, one that has alchemical properties. But perhaps something beyond the ability to turn things into gold, for I am not impressed with mere gold. I would prefer ornate beauty over precious metal any day. And I was thinking of something that would be more steampunkish So I think in my story, having a steam punk fiction inspired glove that would turn things into brass filigree would be even richer than gold. Could you imagine having the magical power to touch something, perhaps something plain and ugly, and watch it come alive with ornament and flourishes? I adore that idea!

 

Alas, I seem to be crafting a monster of fable and mythology with my glove idea. I love when that happens. I have had one of my favorite songs about *tough* in my mind all day, and was quite pleased to find a fan video for it on You Tube that is just perfect for my story and mood today. The song for today is Peter Gabriel's "I have the Touch" set to scenes from classic Frankenstein!

 

So I was thinking at the last minute the other day, that I might be spending Halloween doing some trick or treating with my friends' kids and that it might be cold. So I really needed a scarf to go with my outfit, to keep me warm! I envisioned something really long, and thin, aviator style, something that an airship tinkerer might wear, one that had remnants of rusty gears and grime worn into it. Heh, turns out I did not trick or treat, and the evening was beautiful and unseasonably warm anyways, but I had whipped up a fun and quick steam inspired scarf anyways. So, I wanted to share a quick DIY tutorial with you...

 

( more make believe weapon fun, after the cut... ) 

Well, the Halloween party was much fun and a huge success! I hope to blog about it this week. Pictures are getting posted and I am recovering and cleaning up back at the house. But I am not done, I am continuing to make additions to my costume! I have another party to go to this week, and I am really getting into the spirit of costuming. But before I yammer on about the new things I am going to make, or talk about my thoughts about the costumes I worked on and saw this weekend, I wanted to share the other weapon/accessory that I made last week.

I have been busy lately! But for an awesome change of pace, I am caught up on work and have been busy doing crafty stuff for FUN! Imagine that! I have spent this week working on a really big, super secret Halloween project for my friends. ooh! You can see a little peek of me with part of it above, last night, bleary eyed after hours of work. I better keep it hush-hush for now, but I hope to post some pictures of it soon. It has been wildly entertaining to work on a project of this size, and it makes me want to work on stuff for stage or costuming someday...

 

Doing this work has also put me in the Halloween spirit and I have decided to work on something I have been wanting to do for a long time. If you have known me for a while, you might recall that I was dreaming up a Steampunk alter-ego in the spring. Alycia Von Kylnfyre is her name, and I spent the spring and summer thinking about her persona and gathering elements for not just a costume, but more of a wardrobe. The goggles, the boots, the jewelry, the casual tomboyish yet somethat tailored steampunky clothing. I have really enjoyed it and have actually incorporated parts of it into my daily wardrobe (although, I promise that I don't wear the goggles on a daily basis... that's just for special occasions!)

 

Anyway, I have really wanted to finish the more costumey parts of the look with a weapon. And Halloween is the perfect opportunity. So I went to the toy store yesterday and picked out a fine Nerf dart gun, and have begun work to modify it to look more brassy and aged. (what? check out some examples here) I am sure it will take many steps and coats of paint. Plus I have some little fun surprises to add to it, to make it a weapon fit for a Porcelain Alchemist and Keramic Tinkersmith. Here is the first step:
 

Um yeah, so these are my new steamy shoes. Not so sexy steamy, huh? Perhaps you were thinking some strappy heels or something. Nope, not for me, these are more Steampunky steamy. I went out last week with my buddy and Bead & Button Show travel companion Diane, both of us on a quest for shoes. This show requires 4 days of being on the feet all day long. Working retail for decades, I developed heel spurs from the concrete floors. They used to be very painful. Now, since I don't have to stand up daily for long hours, my feet are much better, but doing a show will trigger my poor feet into painful sadness once again. So I was seeking a shoe that was comfy, could hold my prescription insoles, had some ankle support (my foot doctor had told me this was good for my feet) and which I could steam-ify a bit. I am going for a more tomboyish look, so an ankle boot was ideal.

The studio calls today, loud and clear... so not much time to dive into art history or anything too thoughtful. Today's a good day for a mindflood. This is when I fill a post with visuals that I find interesting and let the images wash over my mind. Maybe yours too...

Ladies and Gentlemen...Boys and Girls! Gather around to see the magnificent madness that is the pottery of George E Ohr, the self proclaimed Mad Potter of Biloxi. Witness his wildy varied pottery styles and forms, no two alike, all created in the late 1800's and early 1900's, before his death in 1918.

Today I would like to write briefly about another female turn of the century potter working in the Arts and Crafts tradition, Adelaide Alsop Robineau, who had an important impact on ceramic history, and on my work in particular. She is another source of inspiration for my steampunk persona, Alycia Von Kylnfyre (that is so fun to write!) and a major source of inspiration for my work in general. In fact, the piece above, The Apotheosis of the Toiler (aka Scarab Vase), is probably the one object that seduced me into working in porcelain 

I have a big work day ahead of me, piles of bisque to glaze...so not the best time to get wrapped up in craft history, which has the ability to grab my mind and pull me into depths of research and discovery for hours and hours. It will be a good challenge for me to be consise I guess. I wanted to write a little bit about my inspiration for the Alycia Von Kylnfyre steampunk persona I have been playing with. One of the most exciting things about steampunk is character development, and the connection to history. So this week I wanted to write about historical figures in craft history that I think are great inspirations for steampunk, as well as for daily life and work. 

So, the first figure is a local one. Mary Chase Perry Stratton, founder of Pewabic Pottery in Detroit. I have written about Pewabic a bit, here and here, so I won't go too much into detail today, but I wanted to make note of a few important things I learned when reading Stratton's biography. The one thing that really struck me was her inspiration for starting Pewabic. It was an epiphany she had on the beach one day, where she discovered a government flyer encouraging citizens to use the bounty of natural resources in the States to help boost the wartime economy. She was inspired by this, and immediately wanted to work with Michigan copper (in fact the name "Pewabic" is based on a Ojibwa word for copper) Copper eventually formed the basis of what became the classic Pewabic luster glazed pottery and tile. This glaze development was uncharted territory, and she was the original ceramic alchemist, learning chemistry and the physics of kiln firing and even developing her own lines of kilns. 

I love seeing pictures of her, like the one above, in the full corseted and collared clothing of the time, firing kilns, mixing glazes, and setting tile. An amazing story, especially considering the challenges of a turn of the century woman. She is an inspiration to me, and I think of her and the drive she must have had, and wheat she accomplished, when I am feeling like I cannot do something, as an artisan and as a woman. So Mary Chase Perry Stratton is my main inspiration for my steampunk persona, I am thinking of her as a crafty superhero: part alchemist, part entrepreneur, and part artisan.