Back in October Meredith visited briefly with Aaron Ristau at Maker Faire Austin. Aaron is a sculptor who works primarily with found bits of technological detritus, from his website:

Technology surrounds us. Products are obsolete within an ever decreasing amount of time, putting an increasing strain on our ability to deal with man made waste. Man's recyclable and manufactured surplus as a sculptors medium lends itself to an infinite variety of possibilities, which creates a whole new genre for sculptors'. By intricately integrating and redefining the purpose of reclaimed components, the completion of a sculpture is a triumph over obsolescence and the reward of creative vision.

Aaron has recently finished a series of pieces that are very much in the Steampunk style and to our great delight has sent them to us for their unveiling!  There are a several more pics after the cut and an amazing amount of beautiful work at Aaron's website, my particular favourite are the series of lamps and lit sculptures!

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I had the honor of sharing space in a gallery show with Art last year in the Hamptons.  I've long admired his Steampunk lamps and I particularly like that his work often incorporates elements that are reminiscent of pulp science fiction cover art - there's always a touch of Forbidden Planet along with the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!

Well, Art's latest working is simply stunning, Art writes:

My most most complex Steampunk work to date with influences of Hinduism, Freemasonry and ancient astronomy. 72" tall x 72" wide. Solid Mahogany, Solid Brass, Glass, Spun-Filament Fiberglass, Plaster, LED + Incandescent Bulbs, Acrylic Resin, Ultra Violet Tubes + Electric Motors.

The central part of the mandala is a precise, hand made reproduction of an ancient Persian astrolabe as seen in the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford.

There's much more on Art's Blog here.

From Social Design Zine in Italy comes this article about sculptor and metalworker Gianni Fanelli.  It appears to be a review of the artist's recent show and the reviewer clearly liked what they saw - at least that's sure what it looks like to me viewing the Google translated version:

The work of Gianni Fanelli has the substance of dreams (I already said the title of the exhibition) is air and light, elusive, but also the strength and concrete ferramenteria, with its brave solders, the riveting, the bolts, rivets and zippers. The Demiurge is moving with ease in her world of oxymoron, among creatures' hydraulic 'light and heavy, with the myths of' transformation 'that leave slip meanings suspended between' field 'and' spirit '.

Regardless, the work is beautiful and I particularly like this Steampunk pinball machine with it's anthropomorphic wooden legs!

(Thanks Dario!)

Tim See is an exhibitor in this year's Smithsonia Crafts Show and he has chosen to produce a series of works in the Steampunk style. Pictured is the Teacup Presevation System and an as yet un-named Steampunk air conditioner is in the works.

You can see more on Tim's blog  and I in particular am excited to see what other wonders he comes up with!

From the workshop of Gonzalo Álvarez comes these wonderful clocks and furniture! Gonzalo lives and works on the island of Tenerife.  He is a maker of fanciful clocks and furniture as well as, it seems, special effects - but my Spanish is non-existent so I cannot be sure.

I particularly love the fact that his work is definitely Steampunk and also clearly Spanish! Much of current Steampunk is centered around the Victorian and American West experience and it is great to see that the aesthetic translates so well to other lands!

I have been terribly remiss in not publishing this earlier! It came to me when I was very busy and I lost the original message somewhere in the bowels of gmail.  Fortunately, I came across it today and vowed to post immediately! My apologies to the artist for this delay!

These pictures came to me from the artist who signed their name simply "Jellyfish"

Jellyfish writes:

This photo is my work.
The work that I have named "Fairy Magic Lantern".
In a glass dome has a paper cutting work.
The paper cutting work was created by an artist Romance Yokoyama.
Glass dome is covered with bead work.
Bead work was created by an artist Rieko.
Two of the works look fantastic.

Indeed they do! I love the ethereal quality of the shadows and the pale light.  Fairy Magic Lantern went on display at the Ayumi gallery back towards the end of November.

There are two more photos after the cut.

I've been chillaxing for awhile now in Boston. It's very unusual that I stay in a place for more than 3 nights, and I've been here 3 weeks. The reason for my extended stay is Stonybrook Fine Arts, a bad-ass DIY space, classroom, metal shop. This is exactly the sort of place that I love- a place for anyone to come and learn skills, to get hands on, and get a little greasy. While I've spent my time sculpting and casting bronze memorials to my crashed car, they also offer classes in welding, mold making, jewelry, figure sculpting, and more. Basically, you can come here, learn how to use your hands and wield power tools, and, goshdarnit, make shit.

To top it off, they allow hourly rental of the shop for people who can't necessarily house a full metal and casting shop. Which is all of you.If you're in the Boston area, or know DIY-ers that are, I can't recommend the shop highly enough.

I'm not entirely sure what I am looking at here, but the 'Ordinator' by Flickr user Imajilon is a pretty sexy bit of workmanship. It's like some weird steampunk/psychedilic milkshake. I want to pull the levers and run my hands over the grill; expecting electrical shocks and vision quests.