Back to the Future III...Totally Steampunk!

The family and I have been watching all the Back to The Future movies over the last 3 evenings. I'd never seen part 3 which came out in 1990 so was quite amazed by the totally steampunktastic ending, with Doc's steam powered time traveling train, not to mention his sons, Jules and Verne.

It's weird because although the phrase 'Steampunk' was only coined in 1987 and not really into mainstream until the late 90's with Will Smith's film Wild Wild West,  even now, there are still loads of people who have never even heard the term and have no idea what it is.... This blog is for YOU!
So here is a couple of pics from Wild Wild West which catapulted steampunk into the mainstream(ish). Okay, gently nudged steampunk into our collective unconscious..or something.... anyway it's science and steam technology combined most deliciously and although the film got terrible reviews and won several Rotten Tomato awards, I still rather like it, but then I'm biased ;-)

Steampunk Festival & the week that was

So what's been going on? well, it's been a week of madly cleaning, getting everything ready for the big clearance sample sale which I had on Saturday plus I also got the news that Sweden's biggest newspaper is coming to photograph me in my home in a few weeks time....Gulp!

I also got the last of my A/W 13 cushion samples from the factory and am very excited about them. They are totally mad kitchy leopardy skull infested bits of madness and only for the brave !

I also got some pics from Janice Issitt Photography of a couple of other new cushion designs. There are going to be 9 new designs in all so...more to come...

As you know, I'm rather keen on all things Steampunk and thanks to a tip off from Store Gården Country Living I now know there will be a Steampunk festival later this year in Alingsås Sweden. It's called Steampunk Konvent and by all accounts I think I'm gonna be there! It's miles from where I live but worth the effort I believe!
All in all, I've had an amazing week... 3 parties in 7 days, great new samples arriving and cleansing my studio of all the old samples and seconds that have been cluttering up my precious space. Fantastic!

Octopus Chandeliers by Adam Wallacavage

Nothing pleases me more than taking something which serves a necessary function and making it theatrical and beautiful. If you have a ceiling light then why not have a a crazy octopus chandelier instead of a boring lampshade? The master of steampunk lighting is definitely Adam Wallacavage and you can see lots of his amazing work from the Shiny Monsters exhibition at Philadelphia Art Alliance.

Mmmmm....yes please....

 Quite useless as a mirror but frankly, it's 100 times more interesting to look at than my own face so that's all good!

I rather want this one too. She could sit next to my medusa sculpture and they could chat to each other when I'm not looking...

Repurposed, Upcycled & Better Than Ever!

I love the concept of upcycling things or repurposing as some call it. Basically taking some old weird crap and turning it into something fantastic. Maybe even better than what it was in it's past life. Take these truck springs for instance. Pretty dull as truck springs but don't they make cool stools?

Okay, so maybe we don't all have access to a local scrap yard and the ability to weld so here's a really easy one, herb pots from old tea tins...

Here are a couple of interesting ideas with old suitcases. The first one is a really cool shelf system found on Apartment therapy by Ki Nassauer, editor-in-chief of Fleamarket Style magazine and founder of JunkMarket, a monthly sale of vintage and repurposed finds.

And this assemblage is by Swedish artist Bo Christian Larsson The dollhouse/hotel suitcases shown here are more prosaic than much of the rest of his work, but the commonality is definitely the use of old strange things. He explains: "I feel uncomfortable as a human in our time. That's why I hardly create new products, but try using already existent material." (SZ newspaper, 26./27.01.2008 in "Der Mann aus dem Wald").

I rather like that house... If I was the right size, I'd live there!

Now here is something fairly easy to do and I love the combination of old doors with a modern sliding capability. I found this on Traditional Homes

Here is a really beautiful light shade made from old door plates.

And here are some cool tennis racket mirrors

Finally, my favourite thing because of the sheer simplicity and endless possibilities for these...Repurposed bricks, made into beautiful books by Light Reading, a shop in Melbourne. Door stops, book shelf ends, cool stuff in the garden... I just LOVE these!

Upcycling or repurposing is all about attitude and looking at things in a different way. Don't look at things for what they are, which in most cases is some pretty boring old crap. Look at them in terms of what they could be. Think outside the box and when you're done thinking with the box stain it an interesting colour and turn it into a shelf!