Are you Geek Chic? You would have been if you had visited Clockwork Couture’s Geek Chic event. The wonderful local artists in the courtyard of the shop (complete with Tardis!) could have dressed you from head to toe in custom and hand made art and design of every color and style. Then you could have had a Silhouette done or perhaps a caracature by Brian Kesinger.
Synonymous with steampunk fashion Clockwork Couture has built not only a reputation of excellence in what they sell at their store on Main Street in Burbank but also of supporting the local art community (a portion of their proceeds is also given to help bring art back to public schools).
Let’s meet some of the artists that were there:
Clockwork Arcanum (owners Misty Rivera and Michael Pauly) – create fun layered pendants of crushed gemstones (malachite, turquoise, lapis lazuli) framed in sterling silver. The designs are vibrant and colorful with inspiration ranging from steampunk to film.
Foulbitten (owner Lynn Hatfield) – Originally started with jewelry before moving to these amazing Galvonically etched copper plates based on copyright free designs from the 1800s and created with a saltwater battery and taking 4-6 hours for each piece. (see a picture of her favorite design from La Poisson Valant – a British pulp novel from 1887.)
WE Comics (owners Mark Wilson and Jason Enright) – create comics for all age ranges. After working at comic book stores and becoming aware that 95% of comics were created for the male 18+ crowd they decided to make comics they could share with their kids. Jimmy Briars 2nd grade detective is one of their most popular works.
Fanboy Comics (Barbra Dillon and Bryan) – are and all inclusive company that create podcasts, blogs, cover national and local news and also have their own in house publishing. Something Animal and Identity Thief are now on sale.
Penguins vs Possums (creator Sebastian Kadlecik) is the epic tale of 2 species that have been fighting each other since the dawn of time. This secret war is about to spill over in to the human world and each person will have to choose sides for good or ill.
BSD Studios (owner Brian Scott) – Works mainly in leather but also creates art in acrylic and metal. He draws inspiration from a little bit of everything and while he likes his items to be multi – functional (like a mask that can be worn either upside right or upside down) he’s decided that anything after making a corset must be easy!
Silhouettes (owner Jordan Monsell) His mother is one of the only people in New England who creates these beautiful works of art and has been doing it for decades, but only recently taught her son Jordan how. Each Silhouette is handmade and unique and can be of literally anyone or anything.
7 Deadly Fairies (owner Stephen Boyd) – Stephen has been costuming for over 15 years. the name comes from a set of designs that he created where each fairy represented one of the 7 deadly sins. From Cosplay to medieval to fantasy he creates works of whimsy and historical accuracy.
The Art of Dienzo (owner Dienzo) While having been painting for 20yrs now Dienzo’s most recent style of art has only come about in the last 9 years when he let his inspiration of dark whimsical things take over. Inspired by Tim Burton he says that he has never been frightened by the dark.
Marvelously Macabre (owners Mac and Chrissy-Lynn) Founded 2 years ago the friends each are happy to admit that each has their strengths and weaknesses in this adventure that combines all things quirky, fun and geeky. from comic book purses to earrings of a carbonite encased Han Solo there’s a little something for everyone.
7th Wolf Outfitters (owner Theresa Wollenstein) began her adventure when she discovered that truly adorable geeky clothing for newborns and babies was simply beyond the budget of most mothers. So she created a line of Paper stenciled affordable baby clothes.
Upon a Midnight (owner William Thomas Damon) was founded 3 years ago and creates Lovecraftian pieces out of leather and feathers. Starting with wearable art like leather shoulder dragons and feather hair accessories he is now branching out to home accessories.
Kit Cameo (owner) created popular pirate flasks for Enchanted Divas for several years before returning to her first love which was painting. Her Cheshire cat is an eery almost creepy figure of Wonderland who is just a bit disgusted by how the Door Mouse is running around in tea pots and making things so unsanitary!
Brian Kesinger created the first “Tea Girl” art for a t-shirt contest. The image of a Victorian lady walking her pet octopus caught on like wildfire and from there the rest was history. An artist who has worked for Disney for 15 years he originally wanted to create art without a story behind it, now though he is looking forward to the publication of his first coffee table book. “Walking Your Octopus”, a how to for the proper Victorian octopus owner.
With monthly events Clockwork Couture is never not busy. Coming up next is their Table Top Gaming Day on March 30th and Cruelty-Free Craft Faire on April 6.
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Shannon is an independent Media Manager who specializes in web series and independent films. She has also been a Script Supervisor, on set Photographer, Editor’s Assistant, author for Web Series Today and is the proud owner of an IMDB credit as “painter”. An avid photographer and classic camera collector she often can be seen at events with her 1969 Polaroid Land Camera and quite possibly at least 3 other cameras in tow.
You can contact her at shannon.shea@geeknewsnetwork.net and find her on Twitter @shannon_shea
