High Tech for the Masses

TechShop opens San Jose space, giving do-it-yourselfers access to cutting edge tools and machines

Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, July 2, 2011

Ella Vallejo of San Jose checks her soldering of a circuit board in the Solder and Basic Electronics class at TechShop Menlo Park.

Just to see one of Moto Ohtake’s shimmering stainless steel kinetic mobiles spinning in the wind is worth the drive to Sierra Azul in Watsonville. Or to see Kathleen Crocetti’s radiant multi-panel hanging mosaics made from thousands of tiny pieces of stained glass. Or the fascinating eroded sphere made by David Mudgett, made from what looks like rebar for giants. “Sculpture Is,” the 6th-annual June-October sculpture show at Sierra Azul Nursery and Gardens, once again has an amazing array of incredible large-scale pieces.

As a maker who leans towards materials I can safely work with on my kitchen table, I can certainly appreciate these sculptors’ facility with materials as daunting as steel, concrete, bronze, and glass, and techniques as demanding as soldering, welding, grinding and sandblasting.

Your creative endeavors are always limited by know-how and access to tools and machinery. And even with training and tools, you might not have an appropriate workspace or the high tech machinery to work as efficiently as possible.

“Build your dreams here” prominently greets open house
 visitors at the entrance to TechShop San Jose.

But now there is TechShop. The equipment-rich DIY Bay Area workshop has just opened a new location in downtown San Jose, near the San Jose State. Seven days a week from 9 am to midnight, members have access to tools and machinery to create just about anything they can think of. TechShop classes are also open to non-members to learn techniques, master the safe operation of high tech equipment, and get a taste of the possibilities.

Classes offered by TechShop such as sewing, wood shop, embroidery and silk screen printing, might sound conventional. However, TechShop teaches these crafts using expensive, state-of-the-art machinery, which is (in the case of the San Jose shop) brand-spanking new.

TechShop’s pride and joy is a state-of-the-art
 3D printer, which can make three-dimensional
 items out of sturdy ABS plastic from any
 3D CAD file, layer by layer.

For example, in “Industrial Sewing SBU” (SBU stands for Safety and Basic Use) you’ll learn how to safely sew thick fabrics like canvas, leather, sails, tents, and nylon straps on an industrial sewing machine. In “Wood Shop SBU,” you’ll build a bench using all the standard woodworking tools and equipment, and be introduced to the CNC ShopBot—an amazing computerized router that carves in every direction for making 3D projects like signs, instruments and furniture.

Take “CNC Embroider SBU,” and you’ll learn to use a computerized machine that creates digitized stitches based on monogramming and logo art as well as clip art style designs. Or take “CNC Vinyl Cutter SBU,” where you’ll make use of software like Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, FlexiStarter 8, and machinery like the CNC Vinyl Cutter—a great tool for making screens for silk screen printing, signs, banners and decorating t-shirts.

I took “Soldering and Electronic Basics” at the Menlo Park TechShop location last week and learned how to solder electronic components for electronic printed circuit board
assembly by making an LED Blinkatron 2000. (!) With a six-student limit, the instructor was able to give individual attention to absolute beginners like me. This is also one of the classes which allow young adults aged 12-17 to participate without a parent. Upon request, I was also given a tour of building by one of TechShop’s Dream Coaches who are always on site to help members with their projects and answer questions.

TechShop Menlo Park describes their bin wall as the world’s
 largest shared junk drawer. Members bring in their surplus
 items and materials and add them to the appropriate
 bin for other members’ use.

TechShop was founded by Jim Newton—formerly a science advisor to Discovery Channel’s MythBusters—who rounded-up lenders and opened the first TechShop in Menlo Park, California in October 2006. Today there is also a TechShop franchise in Raleigh, North Carolina, and TechShop San Francisco opened in January of this year. TechShops Detroit and New York are in the planning stages.

One of TechShop’s success stories is Patrick Buckley, who used the Menlo Park shop to develop a prototype for a handmade iPad case. Today, his San Francisco-based company DODOcase, has sold $1 million in product, or about 10,000 to 15,000 cases. Joe Menard, TechShop’s chief operating officer, said that another member developed a bamboo knitting needle gauge, and today has a $300,000 business. A third is building a lunar lander for an annual NASA-funded amateur contest.

Menard said TechShop’s membership ranges widely, “from kids, to whimsical adults, to serious adults to people with business ideas.” He himself used TechShop equipment to make an audiophile-quality stereo amplifier for his home.

Members work on the vertical knee mill and the metal turning lathe
 in the machine shop at TechShop Menlo Park.

San Jose Dream Coach Kasey Kvamme led tours at Saturday’s open house with obvious enthusiasm. “Our instructors will get you using machines in a matter of hours,” she said to the crowd. “It’s easy and it’s so much fun,” she said about welding. After the tour, she described  Menlo Park as TechShop’s “Millennium Falcon,” in that, San Jose incorporated the features that worked at Menlo Park, and improved upon the one’s that didn’t work as well. “We’ve learned a lot from Menlo,” she said.

Before becoming an employee, Kvamme first came to TechShop Menlo Park for a laser cutting class. In the future she hopes to use the longarm computerized quilting machine (which hadn’t arrived for the grand opening) to make a new bedspread. And, as a dedicated Arkham Horror player, she’d like to build a glass-topped game board.

Memberships are priced at $125 per month or $1499 for an annual membership, and include free Autodesk Inventor classes. TechShop Menlo Park has about 800 members and San Francisco, about 675. Non-members can take most classes, which range in price from $45 to $90, plus materials fees.

TechShop Menlo Park’s main workshop area accommodates classes and provides workspace for members.
At the far end of the workshop is a kitchen always stocked with free popcorn and coffee.

Botany and desire in my own backyard

Humans vs. plants: Who's calling the shots?

Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, June 4, 2011

   Our completed arbor is simple and relatively inexpensive, constructed of
brown-stained pressure-treated lumber, deck screws and 8 lag screws.

Are humans in charge of plants? I was recently reminded of the power of plants in my life by “The Botany of Desire,” the PBS documentary inspired by Michael Pollan’s book of the same name. In both the book and the film, Pollan makes the case that, although we’ve always thought that we are in charge of plants, in fact, they have been shaping us. In the film he says “We don’t give plants nearly enough credit. They’ve been working on us. They’ve been using us.” He points to four common plants—apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes—and shows how these plants, by satisfying our desire for sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control, respectively, have gotten us to go to great lengths to ensure their survival and abundance.

Desire, of course, is a powerful force—sometimes leading us to seek gratification at all costs. In our quest for sweetness, for example, Pollan says that we have grafted only the sweetest apple varieties over and over until they have lost their genetic diversity and ability to naturally resist pests and diseases, thereby increasing the need for pesticides and even genetic engineering.

And so I now realize that this complex relationship between plants and humans has played itself out in my own backyard. The needs of plants have been shaping the content of my weekends for months, maybe years. The following series of events shows how my own desires for sweetness, beauty, and control (we’ll leave intoxication out for now) have caused me and my husband to go to back-breaking lengths for plants—sometimes with unexpected results.

DESIRE #1: CONTROL

Hammering the boards in place goes quickly after figuring out how to dig
post holes in root-infiltrated soil with a "tamper head digging bar," which
we dubbed "the root-buster."

September 2010: The seven native cottonwoods growing around the perimeter of our front yard are ruining everything. My garden is losing light as the huge, leafy trees grow dramatically each year. In the spring, they drop their sticky seeds all over our deck, lawn furniture, and cars, leaving a glued-on black residue. And their invasive roots are sending up shoots, crowding out plants, and pushing up stepping stones all over the yard.

Saturday, September 11: We hire my cousin’s daughter’s boyfriend—an on-call CDF fire-fighter—to come cut the trees down. After traveling from Sacramento, he realizes he doesn’t have the expertise or the equipment to drop the largest trees without hitting structures and wires, so $500 later, we are only rid of two small trees.


Wednesday, September 29: We hire a local arborist, whose crew reduces the five remaining cottonwoods to stumps.

Sunday, April 3: With the cottonwoods gone, we lose some privacy in our front yard. My husband and I decide to build a 13-foot stretch of fence along the road. It’s our first fence and we are immediately hindered by enormous, unyielding roots (from the cottonwoods, of course) which make digging three post holes impossible.

Saturday, April 9: At Lowe’s I am directed to a root-severing device: a simple cast-iron pole, blade-like at one end, and so heavy I can barely lift it into the cart.

Later that day: By hurling our new “root-buster” downwards, over and over, the offending roots are severed one by one by my husband, the holes are finally dug, and the posts are Quikreted in place.

Saturday, April 17: We finish the fence and pose for a proud “We did it!” photo moment—which is somewhat bittersweet, because unstoppable cottonwood shoots are still erupting from shallow roots all over the garden.

DESIRE #2: SWEETNESS

Backed by our new concrete block retaining wall,
 the new tomato plants have plenty of virgin soil
  and room to grow.

Week of May 6-13: In an attempt to grow tomatoes more successfully in my backyard (see Love Apply Farms’ recommendations at http://www.growbetterveggies.com/), among other things, I need to:

1)      Create a new planting area in soil that is not exhausted.

2)      Dig several 2-foot holes in root-infested soil.

I choose a space at the base of a hill, not too distant from a large oak tree. I trim back ice plant, lug it away, and extend an existing retaining wall using concrete wall blocks—97 of them to be exact. It takes four trips to Home Depot to transport the heavy loads in my small trunk. I beg/bribe/bully available family members each trip to help carry the blocks from the car to the backyard.

Sunday, May 15: The wall is finally done, and my husband hurls the root-buster once again to dig the holes for the tomatoes—which are finally planted in nutrient fortified, gopher-wired holes. If the gophers don’t infiltrate the wire, we’ll know by August whether or not all that effort was worth the sweet taste of a ripe heirloom tomato.

DESIRE #3: BEAUTY

Friday, May 20: Not far from the tomatoes, an innocently planted piece of wisteria root has grown into a thriving vine that, in the spring, sprouts a lovely profusion of hanging white flower clusters. However, now that it’s May, the wisteria has morphed into a green leafy alien-monster, sending  its wavy tendrils out into space, looking for something—anything—to grab a hold of.

Weary of hole-digging, I wonder if an arbor can be built without sinking the posts. Online I learn that it is possible to attach posts to concrete piers, but it doesn’t sound very attractive or very stable.

Our completed arbor, from plans in
"Making Arbors & Trellises" by
Marcianne Miller & Olivier Rollin

Saturday, May 28: I purchase lumber and hardware at Monument Lumber in Freedom. My husband digs the holes (more root-busting, of course) and I begin cutting the lumber.

Sunday, May 29: We attach the posts to the cross beams, then lift the two heavy structures up into the holes. We adjust the relative height of the four posts with rocks until they all match, then attach the side beams and roof pieces. Finally, towards the end of the day, we secure the posts and I stand back to admire our handiwork. Aching all over and dead tired, I’m trying to envision one of my daughters underneath a lovely flower-draped arbor on her wedding day, when my husband asks, “What if the wisteria doesn’t use the arbor?”

***

So what exactly have we learned about our relationship with plants? Perhaps it is recognizing that we do have a relationship with plants, and, in fact, we are rather dependent upon each other. Or as Michael Pollan puts it, “to the extent that you can put yourself in the place of these other species and look at the world from their point of view…we become members of the biotic community, one among many species, all of them together creating this wonderful web that we call life.”

Book reviews

Unconventional books for the unconventional mom

 Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, May , 2011

Mother’s Day will be a time of adjustment for me this year.  My mom, who is 83, and her siter, 85, don’t live near each other, but they travel o my house every other year for a reunion on Mother’s Day.

However, my aunt has had severe back problems lately and my mother had major surgery just last month—so there won’t be any traveling for awhile.  In lieu of the reunion, I’ll be spending the day with my two teenage daughters—both of who have plans to be another state or country by next May.  So Mother’s Day this year will be transitional and bittersweet—missing my mom, and enjoying my daughters before they fly away.

I have stumbled upon three books recently—with bittersweet aspects themselves—that I just have to recommend.  They wouldn’t make conventional Mother’s Day gifts; they’re not about great, self-sacrificing moms (although all three were created by incredibly talented women), and there’s no sentimental storyline.  But, speaking as a mom myself, I wouldn’t want to miss their visual wit and dazzling inventiveness.

Book #1: “infinite City—A San Francisco Atlas” by Rebecca Solnit

You may associate the word “atlas” with an over-sized reference book filled with a variety of detailed maps, which, before GPS and Google Maps, you may have grabbed when looking for the location a particular street, city or region. A good world atlas will give you a sense of perspective as it shows you the relationship of different country’s land areas, elevations, climates, resources and vegetation.

“Infinite City—a San Francisco Atlas” is a whole new kind of atlas—one with inventive maps and well-researched text that makes unexpected connections, and thereby rewrites the history and reshapes the character of this famous city and the surrounding area. Various cartographers, artists and writers have contributed the 22 maps and accompanying text, although Solnit’s writing is some of the best. Two of my favorite maps are:

• “Poison/Palate—the Bay Area in Your Body” in which Bay Area culinary venues are juxtaposed against potentially poisonous ones. Boudin Bakery, Ghirardelli Square and Anchor Brewing are pinpointed on the SF map, while, just across the Bay are the former Dutch Boy Paint factory, Mount Diablo mercury mine and Shell’s Martinez refinery. In the South Bay, artichoke fields, a Gizdich pies, and farm stands, are identified along with surrounding cement plants, nuclear waste disposal sites (in the Pacific), and semiconductor factories. To drive the point home, the map is also graced by “exuberantly mutant” mermaids, swimming off the coast.

• In the chapter “Cinema City—Muybridge Inventing Movies, Hitchcock Making ‘Vertigo,’” Solnit makes the case that San Francisco was the birthplace of moving pictures, since photographer Eadweard Muybridge laid the foundation for this new technology while living intermittently in the city during the 1870s. The map shows sites related to Muybridge’s history-making sequential photographs, as well as his wife's extramarital exploits. On the same map, Alfred Hitchcock is also featured, having filmed “Vertigo” in various locations throughout the city in 1957.

Solnit has expanded the definition of what a book can be and how a story can be told in mesmerizing, revolutionary new way.

Book #2: “Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WT*” by April Winchell

“Regretsy” has the potential to offend perhaps every segment of society in a variety of ways. For one, the language is so coarse, even the title needs some cleaning up. For another, folks who earnestly handcraft to the best of their ability probably don’t deserve to be subjected to Winchell are biting criticism in such a public way. And lastly, who is this April Winchell anyway, and why is she the self-proclaimed arbiter of artistic value and good taste?

These are all valid objections, and yet “Regretsy” is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read about art—or any subject for that matter. Winchell’s book is an extension of her blog, in which she plucks e-commerce listings from Etsy (“ugly crap” as she calls it) and then shares her snarky commentary.

Log Purse,” Lynn Cyr Art

April Winchell’s commentary: “If you don’t mind

 carrying a piece of wood around at social functions

, this is a great purse. Oh, you’ll still have to find

 matching shoes, but as long as you’re Dutch,

 it shouldn’t be a problem.”

In her defense, Winchell claims that Regretsy.com ultimately became a powerful selling tool for these Etsy merchants, linking their unconventional products with an audience of unusual tastes. As Winchell explains in her book, “When you make coats for farm animals…people aren’t going to find you with a keyword search.”

You will gasp at the photos (like “Glow in the dark zombie brain cameo” or “Obama toilet seat and tank lid cover” or “Jesus was a Yankee fan”), cringe at the prices, and then laugh guiltily over Winchell’s acerbic commentary. If Mom is okay with salty language and a little mean-spirited fun (and doesn’t crochet toilet roll covers), this is the book for her.

“Double Hummingbird Feeder Hat,” Roy Road Fish Company

April Winchell’s commentary: “I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw this. And then I saw the YouTube video of this thing in action, and it was all over. The double hummingbird feeder hat immediately rocketed to my top 5 finds, ever.”

Book #3: “Radioactive—Marie & Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout” by Lauren Redniss

Lauren Redniss and other writers/artists like her are going to save the book-printing industry. She creates biographies that are an extraordinary pairing of words and pictures, with a gravity and sophistication that may launch a whole new genre. “Radioactive” is Redniss’s second book and it’s even better than her first, “Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies” (2006), which was also ground-breaking.

“Radioactive” is hard to categorize. It’s part biography, part history, part science textbook, and part love story—all immeasurably enhanced by the author’s imaginative illustrations. There’s something impressively all-encompassing about Redniss’s montage-like approach to storytelling—right down to the invented type font and phosphorescent cover art. The picture-book style and haunting imagery are absolutely essential to telling this eye-opening, heart-breaking, history-altering story. As one reviewer puts it, “Like radium itself, [this book] glows with energy.”

The Curie’s lives, faceted with episodes of passion, scandal, Nobel Prize-winning brilliance, and untimely death, would be story enough. But Redniss also weaves in the history of radioactivity itself, and how its discovery by the Curies shook the very foundation of modern chemistry and physics, which ultimately led to a greater understanding of atomic structure and energy.

“Radioactive” was released in March, uncannily coincident with the devastating tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis in Japan—and will have you pondering your proximity to the nearest nuclear power plant all over again. Of course the Curies realized that radioactivity had the potential to be both lethal and life-saving, and so Redniss also explores the medical benefits in addition to the long-term hazards of radiation exposure, through poignant personal narratives.

I’ve never seen a book quite like “Radioactive” before, and I’m hoping its artistic genius will spark a string of books like in the future.

Project: Repainting a kitchen chair

Five myths about house paint

Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, April 9, 2011

My kitchen chairs are old, purchased when my family was young, along with a matching table. They are natural pine, coated with clear varnish, and—after 15 plus years—an additional layer of grime and wear. Rather than strip and refinish, I decided to paint my chairs using lots of color; and, in the process, I learned a lot about paint. 

Myth #1:  You don’t need to apply primer before painting wood furniture

The problem with painting over old varnish is that paint won’t stick to a shiny surface. If the varnish is so old that it’s lost its shine, painting directly over the varnish might work. But it’s a better bet to give the surface some “teeth” by sanding the varnish first with fine grit sandpaper, and then applying a coat of white primer before painting.

Myth #2:  You should always use oil-based paint on furniture, and in kitchens and bathrooms

In California, all house paint sold today is water-based (commonly called latex), since oil-based house paints were banned because they contain toxic solvents. (The only exception is paint designed for special purposes, like RustOleum for metal.) Water-based products are less hazardous, clean up easily with warm water and soap, and perform well in high-use or damp environments like kitchens and bathrooms. They dry quickly, but take about one week to really cure to a final hardness.


Primer, on the other hand, comes in water-based and oil-based versions. Oil-based primer dries slower but harder and is typically more resistant to moisture and wear. It will also adhere more reliably to an oil-based surface like varnish. Oil-based primer contains strong-smelling solvents and preservatives such as formaldehyde and benzene, which are flammable and carcinogenic, and require more solvents for clean-up. If you use oil-based primer, work safely and do all your painting and clean-up outdoors or in the garage with all the doors and windows open.

My daughter, Quin, started painting her kitchen chair
with a more intricate design.

Myth #3:  Paint can labels will help you choose the right paint


Go to three different paint stores and try to compare paints just by reading labels. It can’t be done. Labels on paint cans can be inconsistent, incomplete and misleading. Here are two examples:


Enamel, which used to mean oil-based, now means water-based paint with some amount of sheen. The greater the sheen, the more scrubbable the surface. There is no industry standard for paint sheens, so one company’s eggshell can be another company’s satin, matte or low gloss. The confusing array of enamel finishes includes matte, velvet flat, pearl, low luster, eggshell, satin, mid-luster, low gloss, semi-gloss, gloss and hi-gloss.

Acrylic is a synthetic polymer (plastic) found in most water-based paints. Acrylics improve paint quality because they are more resistant to staining, mildew, cracking, peeling, and blistering. Latex house paints tend to be a “co-polymer” blend of binders (acrylic, vinyl, PVA and others), filler, pigment and water. Paint labels typically will not reveal the percentage of acrylic (or any other ingredient) used in a latex paint. Some do not list the ingredients at all.

Myth #4: Latex paints contain latex, oil-based paints contain oil


Natural latex comes from the sap of tropical trees, and is used to make rubber gloves, swim caps and condoms. Latex paint is a synthetic version of natural latex. There is no natural latex in latex paints. Oil-based paint is an alkyd resin base thinned with mineral spirits (paint thinner) and contains no oil.

Myth #5:  Only oil-based paints are hazardous

VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compound. The VOC rating shows the level of emissions generated by the product over time and at the time of application. Oil-based paints, which have the highest level of VODs, can trigger asthma attacks, create throat and eye irritation, nausea and headaches. Long term exposure can lead to cancer, kidney and liver disease. However, most latex paints also contain VOCs, so take warnings such as “USE ONLY WITH ADEQUATE VENTILATION” seriously. In general, flat, pastel paints have lower VOC levels than bright, high-gloss paints. Large paint companies such as Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore carry a line of zero VOC paints.

Milk paints are a re-creation of a very old paint formula which are made from natural ingredients such as curdled milk, lime and pigment, and have no VOCs. You can mix your own milk paints, or buy them in a powdered form, but once mixed, they need to be used quickly before they spoil. Frequently used on furniture, milk paint is valued for its saturated colors, durability and antique look, as well as its environmental friendliness. Don’t be fooled by cans of pre-mixed paint labeled “milk paint” which are actually a synthetic version of the traditional milk paint colors, but not the safe formula. Greenspace on Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz carries powdered milk paints and other paints that are low-odor and low or zero VOC.

To transform an inexpensive plastic chair
local artist Linda Levy teaches decoupaging.

Experience is the best teacher

Local artist Linda Levy teaches workshops on decorating outdoor plastic chairs, but has also painted many wooden chairs in her time. “For any surface,” she says, “you have to prepare it first.” The best preparation is to remove any dirt with steel wool and then sand with a fine-grit sandpaper. “For a hard, smooth finish, the finer the (grit) size, the smoother the surface.”

She suggests using white primer because it seals the wood, adheres better and, as a base coat, makes the paint colors brighter. She says it’s always best to work outdoors so you won’t breathe the vapors. She usually uses acrylics (they’re more “artful”), extended with a gel medium, which keeps the paint from drying immediately. If the chair is going to be outdoors or in the sun, she suggests a final coat of polyurethane, for moisture and fade protection.

What is Steampunk?

Steampunk Style: Mad Max meets Jane Austen
Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel March 2011 

   2011 Nova Albion Exhibition moves to the South Bay

Photo by Gar Travis/www.garphoto.com

Photo by Gar Travis/www.garphoto.com

If you’ve ever been to a Renaissance or Dickens fair, you know the feeling of being almost transported back in time. There are always those anachronistic incongruities: patrons in jeans, vendors accepting Jacksons, paper plates and plastic forks at the food court. But for the most part, it’s a fun chance to pretend.

For those who love Victoriana, the upcoming Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition (March 25-27, Santa Clara Hyatt Regency) will attempt to transport you to that period from 1839 to 1901 when industry was redefining the work world and Queen Victoria reigned over much of the planet. Or at the very least, it will give you a taste of 19^th century style under 20^th century conference room lighting.

Photo by Gar Travis/www.garphoto.com

Perhaps the Silicon Valley hotel venue is oddly appropriate, though, because Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition isn’t trying to be a quaint Dickens Christmas fair. Steampunk is not about quaint. It’s more of a 19^th century time machine to the future—a fantasy of technology to come, as viewed through vintage brass goggles.

For those unfamiliar with steampunk, it’s a sci-fi subculture that offers a fresh, romanticized view on technology by making it retro. Steampunk style has been around for more than 20 years and takes its inspiration from the science fiction of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne (the fathers of science fiction) and cyberpunk. It’s a unique combination of romance and technology, fantasy and history, or as writer/crafter Jean Campbell puts it, “Mad Max meets Jane Austen.”

Neverwas Haul entertains crowds with their fabricated
 steam-powered art pieces at the 2010Bay Area Maker Faire

Steampunk has influenced all aspects of pop culture, including fashion, films, literature, bands, music videos, video games and comics. Notable steampunk bands include Rasputina, Dresden Dolls and Gogol Bordello. Movies with a distinct steampunk style include “Steamboy,” “The Prestige,” “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and “Wild Wild West.” Annual creative gatherings like Burning Man, Maker Fair, and Dragon Con are showcases for amazing steam-powered machines and other retro contrivances.

Nova Albion draws steampunk fans with differing passions. Santa Cruzan Savi Savinovitch was attracted to the costuming at the Renaissance and Dickens Fairs. “My wife and I both worked the Renaissance Fair and there was a [steampunk] theme party at my booth,” says Savinovitch, who leads the Volunteer Security Team at Nova Albion. In 2007 he and his wife also attended a New Years Eve steampunk-themed party in Santa Cruz. “We jumped right into it after that,” says Savinovitch. He’s also “heavily into Star Wars,” and says he loves to tinker and use his imagination.

Vanessa Applegate, also from Santa Cruz, is likewise a fan of bay area costume fairs, but is even more drawn to the aesthetic and crafting opportunities of steampunk. “I’ve always been interested in things made of metal, and more solid construction.” To her, the steampunk aesthetic abhors the built-in obsolescence of modern products. “I like making things that are solid, built to last and that draws me towards the whole steampunk thing,” says Applegate, who is Director of Operations for this year’s exhibition. “It’s both hard and expensive making things out of good materials,” adds Applegate.

Photo by Gar Travis/www.garphoto.com

Modifiers of gadgetry and other steampunk artisans typically create their wares from uncommon materials. In the forward to “Steampunk Style Jewelry” by Jean Campbell (a great DIY introduction to all things steampunk), writer Paul Di Filippo says that the steampunk artist instinctively seeks materials for which the modern day counterparts are often “inferior or ugly”: cast-iron and wood instead of aluminum; silk and linen instead of polyester; brass, glass and rubber instead of plastic; welding instead of superglue; buckles, buttons and laces instead of Velcro; decoration instead of utilitarianism.

When searching for found objects for steampunk jewelry, Campbell suggests bead shops, hardware and thrift stores, flea markets, Ebay and Etsy. Large craft stores sell suitable charms and findings under the names “Industrial Chic,” “Altered Art” and “Lost & Found.” Some antique stores have baskets of dismembered dolls, dismantled clocks or small toys.

Classic steampunk bling uses watch parts, skeleton keys, gears, compasses, and vintage charms made from copper, brass, pewter or tarnished silver. Steampunk fashion sticks to a muted palette of browns, blacks, grays, purples and reds—reminiscent of the Queen’s dark mourning attire after the death of her beloved Prince Albert.

Photo by Gar Travis/www.garphoto.com

Ariane Wolfe, co-chair of Nova Albion, says that when the event started in October 2008, it was the first of its kind. “There had never been a steampunk exhibition anywhere in the U.S.,” says Wolfe. “Since then, there have been 10-12 opening up across the U.S.” Besides conventions, other steampunk gathering places include nightclubs and tea houses.

Last year’s attendance was about 1,200, and “80% got dressed up which is really phenomenal for that kind of event,” says Wolfe. “We had all ages, from infants to very elderly people.” The event has moved from Emeryville to Santa Clara this year to accommodate a larger crowd. Wolfe attributes the exhibition’s growing attendance to the wide appeal of Steampunk. “It has a literary following, who show up to see their favorite authors, which is something you don’t usually find in sci-fi fandom,” says Wolfe. “Then there is the DIY contingent and the alt history folks, into things like Civil War reenactments.”

To keep everyone’s creative juices flowing, the theme for the 2011 Exhibition is “Wild Wild East.” Savi Savinovitch admits coming up an Asian-flavored steampunk costume has been a challenge. “I’ve been thrown for an absolute loop,” he says, but has been searching through books for ideas. Motifs to avoid? Savinovitch says goggles have been overdone. “I stopped wearing mine completely,” he says. Vanessa Applegate says the quintessential steampunk cliché is clothing covered with gears. “If it’s covered in gears, I want them to do something,” she says. “I like functionality.”

The term “Nova Albion” comes from an early name for northern California, bestowed on the region by the explorer Sir Francis Drake after he landed somewhere north of San Francisco in 1579. (Albion, literally “the white,” was an archaic name for Great Britain, referencing the white cliffs along the English Channel.)

The Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition is a regional event, moving closer to Santa Cruz this year (from Emeryville) for a larger venue at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, March 25-27. The three-day event will feature hands-on workshops, music, a museum of curiosities, venders, speakers, outdoor kinetic and steam-powered device demonstrations, featured artists/makers/mad scientists, and a Victorian ball. For tickets and information go to steampunkexhibition.com

Steampunk style films (from “Steampunk Style Jewelry”)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Around the World in 80 Days (1956, 2004)

The Great Race (1965)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

The City of Lost Children (1995)

Dark City (1998)

Wild Wild West (1999)

League of Extraordinary Gentleman (2003)

Hellboy (2004)

Van Helsing (2004)

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

The Prestige (2006)

Stardust (2007)

The Golden Compass (2007)

Art for the Moment

Making Art That Won’t Last

Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel Feb. 5, 2010 

Jim Denevan spent two weeks living in a yurt on a huge, frozen lake in Siberia last spring in the name of art. He left the warmth of his Santa Cruz home to create the largest piece of art in the world. Commissioned by the clothing retailer, Anthropologie, he created an enormous drawing on the frozen surface of Lake Baikal, in southeastern Russia. Lake Baikal is the world’s oldest and deepest lake, containing roughly 20% of the world’s fresh water fish. In winter, the air temperature drops to minus 10 degrees and the surface of the lake freezes solid enough to drive on—the perfect canvas for Denevan’s artwork.

Denevan is best known in Santa Cruz for his outsized beach drawings. With just a stick and sometimes a rake, he draws huge circles, spirals, and other geometric shapes in the sand that are best viewed from a high vantage point like a cliff. These works are temporary and usually last no more than a few hours until they are reclaimed by the tides.

On the beach, Denevan normally works alone, but for Lake Baikal, he took four friends to help him execute the huge drawing. The team used sticks, brooms, shovels, a Russian Bobcat fitted with a large rolling brush, and GPS, to draw by pushing away the snow resting on top of the black ice for a high-contrast result. Denevan’s design—a series of circles along a spiraling Fibonacci curve—grew in size from circles 18 inches in diameter to 2 miles wide (10 miles in circumference). An unexpected snowfall and hurricane-force winds created two significant set-backs, and sub-zero temperatures had to be endured throughout their stay—not easy for a bunch of weather-spoiled Californians.

The finished piece spanned over nine square miles. The team departed in a giant Russian helicopter that finally allowed them to see their finished work of art from the air. “It was pretty spectacular,” says Denevan.

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Denevan often works in lonely, isolated places, without an audience, and doesn’t mind that his finished work is quickly reclaimed by nature. He recently traveled to South America for a commissioned public performance of his beach drawing, but prefers a more private, spontaneous approach. “I like it when people come accidentally upon the drawings,” says Denevan. “But 70-80% of the time I head for a beach where no one else is around. I can go to the beach with nothing but a stick. It’s so freeing and uncomplicated. I’m doing it for myself. It’s soothing and meditative.”

Contrast Denevan’s preferred no-hassle approach to that of another land artist, Christo. Christo (along with his wife and artistic partner, Jeanne-Claude, who died in 2009) rose to prominence in the 1960s for wrapping enormous manmade objects like fountains, bridges and buildings. But his work became more about the land when, in 1969, he wrapped 1 ½ miles of Australian seacoast with one million square feet of synthetic fabric.

Like Denevan, Christo’s work has always been large-scale and temporal—but there the similarity ends. Christo adds materials to the landscape—usually fabric and steel—and his works have to be dismantled after a short viewing period. In contrast, Denevan’s works—fabricated from nature—grow, stay and decay in a cycle more reminiscent of nature itself.

But perhaps the greatest difference between the two artists is that, while Denevan prefers a simple, spontaneous approach, Christo’s projects, by design, involve complexity and controversy.  Californians may remember one of Christo’s more ambitious projects from the 70s—a glowing white-fabric fence that crossed 24 ½ miles of rolling hills in Sonoma and Marin counties. Gaining permission from private land-owners after 42 months of haggling (including a 450 Environmental Impact Report, three sessions at the Superior Courts of California, and 18 public hearings featuring strong, organized opposition), “Running Fence” was finally installed over four days and remained in place for two weeks.

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In May, the Bureau of Land Management will make its final decision on whether to allow another Christo art installation, proposed for a wild section of the Arkansas River in Colorado. For 18 years, Christo (now 75) has had his sights on this dramatic waterway for a project he calls “Over the River.” The proposed installation would suspend horizontally, a total of 5.9 miles of reflective, translucent fabric panels, above a 42-mile stretch of the river at eight distinct areas. The panels would be viewed not only by those traveling along US-50, but also by vacationers white-water rafting and kayaking underneath it.

Those who oppose the project and its two-year construction phase, say the highway congestion along the river would be dangerous, the beautiful landscape would be scarred, and the area’s wildlife would be severely impacted—particularly the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. Surprising many, the local Sierra Club chapter has endorsed the project, chiefly on the merits of its temporariness and the artist’s willingness to mitigate environmental impact as much as possible. As with all his massive projects, Christo promises to finance the project himself, recycle all materials used, and leave no lasting sign of the artwork’s presence.

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Obviously, creating colossal land art requires tremendous courage and determination. How many artists would have the stamina to devote themselves and their finances to a proposed work of art for years on end without any guarantees? Another Christo project—an enormous pyramid made from 410,000 stacked oil barrels—has been stalled in the United Arab Emirates for over 30 years.

And how many artists would willingly travel to desolate, godforsaken landscapes, often at their own expense, just to create an impermanent drawing that virtually no one will ever see firsthand? For Denevan, who avoids permits and red tape, just finding large open spaces for a project can be challenging. He’s currently exploring robotic drawing, inspired by the temporary tracks left by Rovers on Mars. “Not on the moon because the moon is a permanent surface—you can still see the footprints of the astronauts,” says Denevan. “But on Mars it will make a very distinct drawing. It disappears within a few months.”

Perhaps more than anything else, it’s the transitory nature of these two artists’ work that makes it so extraordinary and so worthwhile. For those who are lucky enough to actually witness Denevan’s or Christo’s finished artworks in person, the experience is no doubt heightened by the fact that is a fleeting and often serendipitous one. Like seeing a rainbow, a beautiful sunset, or even an unspoiled landscape, the experience is made more precious because it will not last.

Postscript:  Here's a little temporary land art in my own driveway, which I made hurriedly before work with the Fall leaves blown across the street from my neighbor's tulip tree.  By the next morning it had all blown away.

Purely Decorative

Art for the home anyone can make

Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel January 15, 2011

When the weather turned cold about 17,000 years ago and humans took refuge in caves in what is now France, they painted pictures of large animals on the walls deep inside their caves. Experts have many theories about the purpose of the images, ranging from astronomical, to historical, to instructional, to spiritual. They also theorize that since these ancient paintings are never found in those parts of the caves that were inhabited or near daylight, they could not have served a purely decorative purpose.

If the foremost purpose of art in the home is decorative, so be it. Decorative art is a pervasive feature of the modern American home, and how this came to be is a fascinating story.

The fireplace makes room for art

In Bill Bryson’s latest book “At Home—A Short History of Private Life” he explores the evolution of the home in his beautifully fluent, humorous, and often digressive, prose. I love Bryson’s ability to turn a seemingly mundane topic into a fascinating examination of western civilization, and how world events and discoveries have shaped our private lives right down to minutest of details.

For instance, to keep warm in medieval England, an open hearth was built in the center of the living space (usually a single multi-functional room called a “hall”), filing the ceiling space with smoke. It wasn’t until about 1330 that bricks and chimneys were developed, which proved less efficient at heating the home and its occupants, but, by the diverting of smoke, allowed builders to create second and third stories, multiple rooms and private spaces.

More rooms, more walls, more art

As rooms proliferated, so did the overabundance of wall space. In Elizabethan England the well-to-do nobility acquired expensive tapestries, paintings, and mirrors to accent their walls. Bryson notes that mirrors, especially large ones, were “exceedingly precious treasures, more valuable than any painting.” Of course any consideration for wall decor was strictly limited to the rich and powerful, since only they had the walls and the resources to think beyond the practical aspects of day-to-day life.

It was not until the emergence of the so-called middle class—in the mid-18^th century—that interest in interior decoration began to spread to other social groups. This occurred during the age of European Imperialism, when exploration and exploitation created greater wealth and new job opportunities for the common man. Urban professionals, such as bankers, lawyers, artists, designers and merchants could now afford to dress their homes more lavishly.

“Suddenly there were swarms of people with splendid town houses that all needed furnishing, and just as suddenly the world was full of desirable objects with which to fill them,” says Bryson. Framed art of all kinds—drawings, paintings, lithographs and etchings—now became more commonplace in the middle class home. “The modern house—a house such as we would recognize today--had begun to emerge,” says Bryson.

Decorating your own castle walls

Today, those who are reluctant to choose art for their home—either because they are not sure what to buy or because they don’t want to spend a lot of money—have many choices. Those who can afford it can hire an interior decorator who will select art that complements a room’s color scheme and style.

A less expensive option is to visit a consignment store, yard sale, thrift shop, flea market or craft fair. Art in a consignment store is usually in good condition, framed and ready to hang. Thrift shops, yard sales and flea markets are especially good for great deals on wooden frames (if the art itself isn’t worth keeping), which can be repainted to your liking. Craft shows usually have art geared for pop culture tastes such as posters of musicians, photographs of movie icons, or drawings of sports heroes.

If you want to save money by putting together your own art, but don’t see yourself as an artist, there are ways around that as well. Here are a few ideas I gathered from bhg.com and other sources:

Pretty paper

Frame scrapbooking paper, available in an array of trendy colors and patterns, for easy and inexpensive artwork. Choose several papers that suit your room’s color scheme and hang them together in simple white frames with white mats. Also consider wrapping paper, handmade paper, wallpaper, book illustrations, postcards or note cards. Small items such as postcards or book illustrations gain instant impact when surrounded with an extra-wide white mat and a simple black frame.

Large photographs

Take some high-resolution digital images you’ve shot to Costco, where they can be blown up large and printed on canvas for a reasonable price. With “gallery wrap” your photos are ready to hang without a frame.

Wall curtain

Find identical plastic placemats you can buy in large quantities and create a wall curtain of repeating patterns. Use Fotoclips to link the mats together horizontally and vertically, then hang the whole curtain using thumbtacks or nails. Fotoclips can also be used to create a large wall collage of 4x6 photos.

Purely Decorative

Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, January 15, 2011

Artistic kids

Give your kids markers or crayons in the colors of your room and let them create their own art. Choose your favorites and frame them with colored mats. The kids will love seeing their work displayed and you'll have a keepsake of their creativity.

Anyone can paint

Visit an art store where you'll find stretched canvas, acrylic paints and brushes. Paint abstract designs or use templates for geometric shapes. “DIY Art at Home: 28 Simple Projects for Chic on the Cheap” by Lola Gavarry has ideas, techniques and pull-out patterns from which anyone can make decorative art.