Amy is a product designer as well as painter and illustrator. Her work is rich, detailed, and has a sense of childlike whimsy of children’s illustration, whether she is painting a fairytale-like environment or some frightening tentacled butler. My first impression upon first meeting her at Steampunk World’s Fair this year was that of amazement.

 

Come to learn that she has been working with local fabrication company Penny Dreadful Productions (“PDP”) on the artwork and promotional images for their new Remnant line and I just simply could not stop singing her praises. If you recall, we at the Chronicle spoke at length of the Remnant line HERE. 

 

Thankfully, she found some time between designing toys, painting commissions, and working on some serious deadline jobs to grant me an interview and she answered at length in such great detail, I have left very little out. Below is how this brilliant woman’s mind works and I am happy she shared her thoughts with our readers. Enjoy!

 

 

Amy Houser - I've thought about this question a lot, actually. I was having a conversation with a friend once about the longevity of the “Steampunk movement.” He felt that its lack of a solid definition was a big weakness. What IS steampunk really?" he asked.

 

After thinking about it, I believe that weakness is actually a strength. Everyone who gets into steampunk comes from a set of unique anecdotal influences that define what they want steampunk to be. I grew up watching movies like “Return to Oz” and “The Dark Crystal,” and the bits that really stuck with me always had to do with “magical machinery” or inspired inventions. Tik-Tok, the mechanical man and Army of Oz, sticks out in my mind as my earliest influence that could be considered steampunk or clockpunk. I'm still desperately in love with the Tik-Tok / Tin man idea, and they strongly influenced my personal definition of steampunk. I think the vast majority of Steampunks have their own experiences they can, and do, dump into the "big steampunk melting pot". They then forge something that's meaningful, personal and still plugged into some greater collective creative vibe.

 

I mean, life gets dreary sometimes. Jobs can be boring or unpleasant. Pop culture is dismal, frustrating and exclusionary. I see the “punk” half of steampunk relating to the fact that some of us said "eff it" to norm-pop-culture, donned some "weird clothes" and started spending weekends building jet-packs and sewing giant, fabulous dresses. 

 

Sure, there's a level of escapism in Steampunk, but it's healthy and social and encourages creativity en masse - people put on corsets, goggles and come up with personas because it's fun and pretty - but also because it lets them invent inside a community-defined framework that also embraces cleverness on an individual level. I can think of nothing that warms my creative heart better than seeing a big pack of quirky, costumed, odd-birds that want to spend a few hours like they're in a deliciously art-directed Victorian masquerade-ball dream sequence. The best part of the community is the willingness to embrace it all and appreciate each others' hard work. I think that's the core of what steampunk is to me.

 

 

Amy - Hmm. I guess I'd say my work is a swirly, colorful cocktail of Victorian framing and palette, with dashes of Art Nouveau aesthetic and earthy, gritty tones and textures. I trained as a children’s book illustrator, so my color palette and drawing style are all about saturated colors and playfulness. My work has darkened up and developed a "patina" over the last few years, though, and I'm enjoying that.

 

I'm also totally an old-school painter. I appreciate the amazing stuff that digital artists are doing these days in programs like Painter and Photoshop, but a huge part of why I do what I do is the "getting dirty" bit - being covered in paint splatters, feeling the paper under my fingers, rattling the brush in the cleaning glass. I wouldn't give that up for anything, and I always want my hand to be apparent in my work.

 

 

Amy - I'm a huge fan of the late 19th century to early 20th illustrator/advertisers like Alphonse Mucha and N.C. Wyeth, but as I work primarily in watercolor, I'm particularly influenced by the childrens' book illustrations and overall aesthetic of Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham, et cetera. Rackham's illustrations for "Peter Pan in the Kensington Gardens" came to me at the perfect time in my life and were tremendously influential in helping me develop expression and color palette in my own way.

 

I mean, I've got lots of modern influences, too. There's no way I'd be where I am without the early RPG illustrations of Tony Diterlizzi, Rebecca Guay and the like. They fired up my work-engines because I got to watch their success happen in live time, not in reading historical biographies. They're proof to me that constant self-improvement and tireless work-work-work will really pay off and make you the artist you want to be.

 

 

Amy - I tend to focus on the vendor/artist aspects of the subculture, because that's how I'm wired. Trends wax and wane, but this sort of Victoriana / industrial / brass-and-DIY / anachronistic style is really very evergreen. It's not going anywhere, and it's much more mainstream than people might realize. I was just looking through a major upscale-home goods website and saw some pieces that are, in my opinion, very "steampunk". Some people will always be drawn to that aesthetic and want to fill their lives with it, however they label it.

 

As an artist and a product designer, I'm thrilled about this. The more of us there are and that come together, the more of us will spend our time, money and creative energy on steampunk goods. The more than happens, the more retailers and event planners will accommodate that, and the more creatives can thrive on making the kind of stuff they love. Before we know it, the world becomes a slightly more magical and entertaining place in which to hang out. That's how I hope the subculture develops, at least. I'd like to contribute to that.

 

 

Amy - My "Clockwork Wings" illustration was sort of my first big "steampunk" piece (I'd never even heard the term back then), and I still consistently sell many prints of that piece. My industrial design experience came in handy in thinking through the way wind-up wings might actually work, at least in an imaginary setting. An engineer once analyzed the formulae in that illustration to see whether or not I was just painting gibberish. He seemed surprised when the formula for coil-spring energy worked out (sometimes being and obsessive-compulsive artist is a blessing).

 

 

 

I'm also personally partial to the robot butler I illustrated for an upcoming RPG sourcebook - I'm really way, way too hopeful that robot butlers will happen in my lifetime, or even just sassy automatons (see aforementioned crush on Tik-Tok). Combine that with my desire to have someone bring me tea five times a day because I'm too lazy to get it myself, and there you go.

 

Lately I've really enjoyed doing silhouette portraits for people at conventions. The whole "sitting for a portrait" thing is an art form that went the way of the dodo when photography came into its own. Silhouettes are a time-practical way of revisiting that. I also get to talk to other people in the community on a short-term but intimate level: people tell me about their props, their "how I met Steampunk" stories, their character concepts. It's really amazing, and has really reaffirmed for me why I like this community.

 

Amy - My involvement in the PDP "Remnant" project started with Dorian's Parlor, a monthly steampunk social event in Philadelphia. Several of them came up for an event, and I started talking to them. Matt Silva and crew were such welcoming and enthusiastic people, and I really appreciated the passion they felt for the work they were doing. Having spent a lot of time working as a lone freelancer, I was excited about joining up with a team for a big project and feeling like part of a "crew".

 

We had some conference calls, they sent me the initial concept drawings of the costumes, and the Remnant brand really grew organically from there. So much of the Remnant world came out of Matt's demented, awesome brain, and he gave me a lot of freedom to interpret that visually. It was nice to hear that they were inspired by some of my visual interpretation in return. The gang told me that seeing executed artwork of their designs helped motivate them - that was such a super compliment, since their work is so, so inspired and well done. I really can't wait for the next phase of development on this project to build up steam. Pardon the pun.

 

Amy - Yes! They'll be available sometime in November, and I'll link to the print sales through my website. Penny Dreadful Productions is currently taking orders for the costumes featured in the posters, and there might be fun mystery swag that comes with each purchase.... you never know.

 

 

Amy - Whew, lots of fun stuff! I just finished an ad campaign for the American Library Association for their new initiative against banning books - more information can be found at the ALA blog. I went all "Normal Rockwell" for that, heh. I'm going to be continuing the fine work with Penny Dreadful Productions on the Remnant line with a forthcoming web comic in the coming months. I'm working on a set of illustrations for award-winning author Chuck Wendig for an upcoming serial novelette, and finishing up a long-overdue series of steampunk illustrations for a brilliant new RPG card game currently being developed. I have some private commissions and new collaborative projects / book covers in the works that I can't talk about just yet, as well as my regular work load of toy concept design. I'm also working on new greeting card products, and a new painting series I hope to take on a gallery tour in 2012. That series will be right up the steampunk alley, and I hope to have a lot of prints and products come out of it.

 

No, I really don't sleep much. All hail the Caffeine god.

 

 

Amy - Go to my website and buy All the Things!

 

Ha. But seriously, I really love hearing from new people on exciting new projects. Multi-platform projects (like the PDP Remnant initiative, or other Kickstarter projects I've seen out there) are the wave of the future. If you're a creative that's working hard on an amazing new project and have drive, purpose and a plan, I want to work with you. Sure, money makes the world go 'round and professional artists can't work for free, but there are now more ways than ever for funding potential projects and bringing creative new things in the world. The Kickstarter-model is changing how indie creative projects and items get made, and that gives me a lot of hope for creatives being able to continue to make work that we love.

 

If you like my work and want to support it, go to my website and hit up my store for shiny new prints, cards and commissions. I'm a painter - painters love commissions! I also strongly encourage everyone to come out to events and buy from independent vendors - every dollar counts to small businesses. The next show I'll be doing is the 2nd Annual Mechanical Masquerade at Blue Mark Studios, Atlanta, GA on November 12th. I'll be doing silhouette portrait sittings, as well as selling cards and prints for the holiday season.  

 

Best yet, come follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter and say hi! Tell me what you'd like to see in steampunk illustration, and you might inspire some new kickass art to be made.

 

 

Amy - Thanks for taking the time to interview me! I am in awe of the time, motivation and positive influence you put into the steampunk community, Doctor Q. Buzz and information-spreading are SO important to communities like ours, and I for one am happier knowing there are spokespeople like you putting the best, happiest, and most energetic faces on it for the world to meet. Cheers!

 

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I would like to note that Amy insisted I leave that last question on the article, as I have been blushing ever since. Please by all means follow this amazing artist and keep a look out for her at the steampunk events you’ll be attending! 

 

Doctor Q is the Media Editor for Steampunk Chronicle. He fancies himself an acoustic arranger of music and founder of the Artifice Club. 

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