This month’s featured artist is Paul Stewart from the California Gold Country foothills. He discovered he was ‘making steampunk’ before he knew what steampunk was. Paul has displayed several of his inventive pieces in the Artists’ Gallery at previous conventions. He creates his unique and whimsical pieces using found objects from all kinds of sources, from thrift stores to unusual materials found around the foothills. He is also an artist and has a degree in advertising. He has done murals, sign paintings and commercial art and has even written a novel! (see link below)
We had a conversation with Paul to find out more about his art and background:
Paul started building found item robots in 2007. He also made a small time machine, and in that process, discovered the world of steampunk. He likes the aesthetic appeal and nostalgic elements of steampunk, as well as making robots and 3-D items. It is a perfect fit for his talents and interests. He has displayed and sold his pieces at the Sacramento Steampunk events and continues to show and sell at a variety of other shows and stores.
Asking about how he gets ideas for his work, he said many of his early designs started with clocks. He’d find old clocks, glass, and miscellaneous items and started keeping a large inventory of parts and pieces to use in projects. Over the years his inventory has grown to take up most of a room in his house, so when he’s working on a project, often he can find everything to work with from his own stock. This includes clocks, brass, cooper tubing, old lamps, robot parts, bottles, etc. Some of his creations include steampunk violins, steampunk R2-D2’s, a couple of robotic arms, a steampunk Enterprise, a large “time machine”, decorated hats, a telephone purse, and many more. His biggest seller is his ‘Vampire Hunter Kits’. It’s believed Paul is personally responsible for the large reduction in vampires throughout area!
Paul is currently working on a more compact single person ‘time machine’ for photo ops and has found a market for whimsical versions of dynamite blasting boxes from the 1870’s(also known as a ‘shot exploder’) – think Wile E. Coyote and the roadrunner. He always has something new and we can’t wait to see what he’ll invent next!
Paul’s website is http://www.paulsrobots.com.
His steampunk creations can be seen at:
http://www.paulsrobots.com/steampunk/ and
http://www.paulsrobots.com/moresteam/
You can find his pieces at
Sparrow Five in Roseville
https://www.sparrowfive.com/
and
Tigby Hill Vintage in Sutter Creek: https://www.tigbyhillvintage.com/store
This Good Day Sacramento piece shows his art at a local store – Sparrow Five in Roseville:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r92aUzYqyDw&fbclid=IwAR2-S6h0ohM48coUTNN0ibaoqnQ5lvsJoiT2K5HZ-nkx4xv8cOg12nwf6eI
Link to his novel:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PXD23XD
Paul does work on commission and you can contact him if you are interested in having him build something for you.