This page has been made to feature all sorts of wonderful Steampunk News and makers of Steampunk treasures, curios and inventions!

The very first feature on this page is with Mark Eliot Schwabe, a fantastic creator and fashioner of metal sculptures and airships and all manner of wonders!

Please tell us a bit about yourself, your background and how you got into metal work and Steampunk.

Before there was Steampunk, there was metal working.
It all began with my father.  Dad (James Author Schwabe) had a high end gold jewelry business.  The “factory” was in the basement of our house.  At the tender age of 14 I began to learn his trade and worked with him on and off for years.  The metal working techniques that I learned from him could fill volumes.  As I work, I often think, “Dad taught me that.”

Eventually I left the family business to pursue a career as a sculptor.  I learned what it means to be an artist, and steel welding techniques, while studying with and working as student assistant for, Richard Stankiewicz ([American Abstract Expressionist Assemblage Artist, 1923- 1983] at the State University of NY at Albany.

Later I attended the State University of NY at New Paltz, where had an opportunity to pursue bronze casting and, in 1977, earned my MFA.

Over the course of two decades, I had some success as a sculptor.  Selling about half of the pieces that I made.  I made a profit, but never a living.  Ultimately, I fell back on jewelry making for a livelihood.

I made custom jewelry as a “goldsmith” at “Drue Sanders Gold & Silversmiths” for several years, then became Shop Supervisor at the Ed Levin Jewelry  factory, both in Upstate New York.

The next move was to Rhode Island (just before the collapse of the jewelry industry there).  I worked as a model maker, first as a factory employee, then independently as a free lancer.  The model maker is the person who makes the original piece that is then mass produced.   Even today, I am often asked “did you make this from a mold?”  The question bespeaks a lack of understanding of the process.  In metal working, a mold is basically an empty space into which liquid metal is poured.  In order to get that empty space, there must FIRST be an original, a “model” (or “master” or “sculpture”).  The model is surrounded with rubber (or some other mold making material) which is “vulcanized” causing it to tightly fit around all of the nuances of the model.  The model is removed, leaving the “empty space” that can now be filled with metal many times – making mass produced jewelry.

I digress.  The important thing to mention about this time in my life, as it relates to my current passion for Steampunk art, is the work I did for Rawcliffe Pewter Co.  At first I made dragons and other fantasy “models” for Rawcliffe to produce as miniature pewter sculptures.  While I was working with them, they obtained licenses to manufacture Star Trek and Star Wars product.  I was asked to make Space Ships.  What FUN!  Can you imagine, making a living by making Space Ships!  Ultimately I made the original sculptings (models) for most of the Star Trek ships and nearly all of the Star Wars ships that were produced by Rawcliffe.  As the same time, I started my own product line build around Markie Moose “a very talented moose.”

I made the move to Vermont in 2000 where I came to rely on Markie Moose for a lively hood, and spent a lot of time skiing and mountaineering.

Finally – here it comes – I found Steampunk!  More like I tripped over it.  Completely by accident I came upon the work of  WinonaCookie (Ramona Szczerba) .  Until that moment, I had never even heard the word “Steampunk”.  I was completely blown away.  I love her collages and especially love that each comes with its own, amazingly clever story.   I investigated and learned more about Steampunk.  Clearly, this is the direction for me.

Steampunk is an opportunity to make space ships again (in the form of “Airships”), but this time, with NO rules!  The shapes and details of the vessels and objects are completely up to me, the stories behind the vessels and objects are completely up to me.   Steampunk offers complete creative freedom.

As a maker what do you find most inspiring in the Steampunk Subculture?

There are many things about the Steampunk subculture & genre that appeal.  Setting aside the creative aspect for a moment, the Steampunk movement has much to offer.   In a time when the news (and so much of our daily lives) is filled with discourse that is in-your-face and often just plain nasty, the Steampunk subculture promotes civility and a return to manners – but without the rigid rules and inflexible attitudes of Victorian Age England (or, for that matter, 1950’s USA).

Creatively, the genre is enormously appealing.  There are a hand full of parameters (and even these are flexible).   Basically all things Victorian are celebrated.  Special emphasis is placed on the fashion and technology of that time (think steam power).  Within this framework, almost anything may be applied – modern technologies, fictional technologies, revisionist histories, even time is a flexible concept.  Talk about a creative person’s playground!
SteamPunk narratives/stories

Taking a page from Winona Cookie (and a number of other Steampunk artists) my pieces often include a narrative; a story line that puts the piece into context in the SteamSmith’s world.  There are a number of intertwined story lines, each referring to a group of my jewelry and/or sculpture pieces.  Some of the ongoing narratives are about: NewIndustries Ltd, a huge corporation engaged principally in the manufacture of Airships;  Professor Maurice Jenkins, renowned tinkerer and reputed genius (and his students & nieces); the Central Coast Marine Militia and their arch enemies; the Pirates of the Central Coast; there is also Elite Marine Engineering, the Airship Service Corps, the House of Aline royal family and …. well, you get the idea.

The stories/narratives can be found where pieces are listed for sale on line.  My Blog, Steamsmithworks puts many of the narratives into context, AND includes the stories of a number of pieces that have been sold (narratives are no longer available anywhere else on line).

Do you have a favorite creation?

Hard to single out one.  The Airship Brooches as a group to be sure.

I might narrow it down to these three:

Sphere Drive Airship brooch (spheres within the cylinder roll up and down)

Temporal Drive Airship brooch (just the IDEA of time travel is tooooo much fun)

Pirate Airship Revenge brooch (9 moving parts and winner of the Etsy SteamTeam’s “Make it Move” steampunk design contest)

Princess Nancy’s (my Sweetheart) favorite is TriStack Airship brooch.

Joyfully, all four have found good homes.  The Pirate Airship’s home is truly special.  Bruce Rosenbaum, owner of the famous New England SteamPunk House, has it mounted on the wall (inside a brass porthole) in his wonderfully designed office.  You can see it here if you look at the pic of his desk area – top picture – upper right – there is a porthole on the wall, my Airship is in that porthole!

How long does it take to forge one of your magnificent Airships?

This question is often asked, and never answered.  (FYI they are fabricated, NOT forged – see this link for excellent examples of forged steel http://www.etsy.com/shop/leviathanarts )
As an artist and maker, do you take commissions for custom pieces? What is the best way for someone to reach you?
I would like to do commission work.  Anyone interested in SteamPunk jewelry or sculpture in the style and materials that I work in, PLEASE contact me so that we may talk about your particular needs.

Also, if you have a Rawcliffe Pewter Star Trek or Star Wars space ship sculpture (or fragments of a damaged one!) and would like me to transform parts of it into jewelry for you, please contact me (SteamSmith@MarkieMoose.com)  or covo me at my Etsy Store.
NOTE about contacting me: recently I have begun using the tag phrase “All Propellers Spin” (and, of course, ALL of my propellers DO spin).  It is a catchy and easy to remember phrase and if you go to www.AllPropellersSpin.com   you will be taken to my Etsy store.

Are there places where people can see your work in person?

I will have Steampunk work hanging (wall hanging sculptures) in two places in the Boston, MA area beginning later this summer.  Starting in late August I will have a piece in the art exhibit that will be part of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea entertainment complex that will be at Patriots Place (adjoining the football stadium) in Foxboro, MA.  This piece is my “take” on Jules Vern’s submarine “Nautilus”.

Starting some time in September I will have a wall hanging sculpture on exhibit in Newton MA at the Deluxe Station Diner (a SteamPunk theme restaurant).
Some of my older works are currently on exhibit here in Vermont’s Mad River Valley: several indoor & outdoor sculptures may be seen at Moose Walk Gallery
several outdoor works may be seen at the “Sculpture Stroll” on the grounds of the Inn at the Round Barn

And, for the month of August, I will have 4 sculptures on exhibit at the “Big Red Barn Show” at Lareau Farm Inn in Waitsfield, VT (part of the Vermont Festival of the Arts

Will you be at any upcoming Conventions or Fairs?

I hope to be vending at three events this Fall, and another three or four events next Spring.  As of this date, none have been confirmed.

Links to my various places online (in priority order):

www.AllPropellersSpin.com my SteamSmith Etsy shop

My DragonSmith Etsy shop

My Facebook Fan page – I am fairly good about posting SteamSmith news, etc here

My Blog which includes the “stories” that go with pieces that have been sold (customers can see how the piece they are thinking of buying fits into SteamSmith’s world).

And finally, my 1000 Markets Store