Lee Presson and the Nails on Calliopes, the one steam-powered musical instrument

This post is stretching the steampunk link a bit, but the connection between this very lively jazz/swing band and SP is that Dieselpunk magazine once interviewed the lead singer. In that interview, he made a good point about musical instruments that can be considered steampunk ... that there is only one!  Here is what he said:

"I take great pride in the fact that the San Francisco Chronicle coined the term "Goth Swing" to describe LPN in 1996! The "electro-swing" I've heard so far I haven't been that impressed with, although I like the concept. Thomas Dolby's done dieselpunk as well as it could be done. Steampunk? I don't think it has an official sound yet. If you want to get VERY technical, the calliope is the world's only steam-powered instrument (that's right - CIRCUS music) so let's use that as a springboard for something! Second swing revival? Jazz never dies; it just lays low for a while. It'll be back, and we'll be ready."

The band has been active in the San Fran music scene, playing accessible music halls and generally giving audiences a great show (they often play at the DNA Lounge, solo or as part of the burlesque Hubba Hubba Revue. (Just this week, Lee helped with the bash in honor and memory of Eddie Dane, another SF entertainment icon, who recently passed away.) If you would like to learn more about LPN, here is their web site. They have played ballroom, jazz, swing, polka, waltzes... you name it! So by way of musical styles that are still evolving and making toes tap everywhere, I give you something to discover for yourselves. I  intend to investigate calliopes further, soon, though!

~ DS

James Corbett's Car Part Animals

Squirrel, by James Corbett

No, this is not grafting gears onto deceased fauna, for once.  Australian James Corbett creates animals from car parts, once they tell him what they want to be!  One can find his work on his own site and on dozens of others.  He even has a few for sale, including a feisty kitty.

This article tells of his journey from a wrecking-yard/auto recycling business owner to an acclaimed artist, and has many photos of his animal sculptures.  The British John Davies Gallery currently features Corbett's artwork, as well.  The artist leaves the parts as intact as possible, saying that he wants people to recognize the individual automobile components which comprise each sculpture.

Powerperformancenews.com conducted an interview with an interview with James Corbett, which you can peruse here.

Steampunk? Sure. Lots of time and effort?  Certainly.

How Robert Bunsen Saved the Victorian Era

'Ello, everyone! I am very glad to be back 'on the air' as they say.   Today, I would like to mention a an inventor who influenced the Victorian era, or the aftermath of it, in an unexpected way.

     Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (30 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was born in Gottingen, Germany, and went on to become a leader in the field of chemistry. In order to facilitate his laboratory work, he developed the gas Bunsen burner, which was simpler,  more economical, and could provide a higher-quality flame than the then-current laboratory burners. 

     Among his other notable contributions, one has a connection to one of the darkest phenomena of the Victorian era: arsenic poisoning.  Whether ingested or placed on the skin unintentionally or with intent, arsenic was a sure killer which was used indiscriminately by many people. (For example, Victoria-era ladies would place a mixture which included arsenic on their skin supposedly to treat wrinkles, arsenic was used in many 'patent medicines' peddled by quacks, it was used by legitimate medical practitioners before antibiotics were brought into use, and it was also found in certain pigments used in industry.  Bunsen himself became quite ill from arsenic poisoning. Arsenic was also one of the favorite poisons of treacherous fiends from the Middle Ages forward.)  

    Bunsen discovered that iron oxide hydrate was an antidote for arsenic poisoning; the information later made it possible for municipalities to filter arsenic from their drinking water.(Here is a link to an excerpt from a book chapter on the history of arsenic and its' use.)   He also pioneered the carbon cell battery and advanced the field of spectroscopy (spectral analysis of heated elements, using which he discovered caesium and rubidium).

     So, while he did not contribute to the steampunk genre directly, his efforts probably made the Victorian era more survivable, and thus last a wee bit longer!

Origins of the Heavy Metal Animals Discovered - Endangered Art!

(Yes, this big ol' rusty guy again!) “Fenrir” by Jordan Walker, Zach Highnote, Greg Black, Leigh Ann Colley, Phylicia Corey & Robert Grissett from Georgia Southwestern State University

I wanted to auto-post an update regarding an older topic while I am incommunicado for a bit.

A few weeks ago when I once more ventured out to recycle some of my household materials and help save the planet (or at least try to keep it cleaner), I asked an employee at the facility where the quirky steel/scrap animal sculptures that I had been seeing at the recycling center had come from. 

They told me that they used to have an annual contest for local schools to make sculptures out of the local iron scrap. The recycling business had been recently sold, and they said that the new company may not sponsor any more contests.  So I not only caught photos of some unique metal sculptures, but endangered/extinct ones, as well!  The dragon/toothy dinosaur still stands guard near the plastic and glass bins, probably because it is so heavy that no one wants to move it!  (I occasionally see a sculpture I have not seen before, as they are perhaps moved into public view from other parts of the facility, but I was not able to get a picture of the any new ones on my last trip there.)  I think the one pictured above is totally steampunk, which may be why I am enthralled with these roughly-made metal pieces.

You can find my other posts regarding and many photos of these large and unusual sculptures by clicking in the tag cloud under "animals", or with these links:

http://steampunkjewelrybydreamsteam.blogspot.com/2009/07/heavy-metal-animals.html

http://steampunkjewelrybydreamsteam.blogspot.com/2010/05/heavy-metal-animals-ii.html

Shops/Blog on Sabbatical for a Few Days...

While it seems rather frivolous to write a post of this sort, I wanted to mention that my ArtFire and Etsy shops will be shut down for a few days. with the items unavailable for viewing.  If there was something there you wished to purchase, do check back and it will be there.  I may or may not be able to create blog posts, as well, but hope to re-open all these venues in a week or so. This is not a vacation, trust me, but I wanted to make sure that nobody thinks I have given up on these ventures!

~ DreamSteam

Gears, Roses, and Bullets -- two new pendants for sale

Here are two new copper and resin steampunk-inspired pendants now for sale in my ArtFire studio!

Bullet and Gears in Resin Copper Steampunk Pendant

 The first pendant has a flattened bullet as the background for a pretty brass cog and two weathered silver watch gears.  I picked the fired bullet up off the range, myself, and hammered it so that it would be the proper size to fit the pendant base.  All of the components have some patina/rust to them, which makes this pendant look nice and rustic, even steampunk! (This piece has now sold, thank you!)

Watch Face, Spring, and Rose Copper Pendant

 The back of a watch face forms the background of the second pendant; I liked the roughness of the rear surface rather than the colorful side, so I just flipped it over!  The rose at the center is made of black resin which I brushed with copper flake paint.  A watch spring coils around the rose and to the edge of the solid copper pendant.

Both pendants are encased in poured clear resin, which means they are waterproof and the internal components will not move.  I have a couple of others made, but want to do some more work on them before posting them for sale.  This is one that I will post asap.

I hope to become more productive in a few weeks, but I wanted to share what I had managed to finish up for now.  Thanks for reading and sharing this blog and my jewelry!