Pros and Cons (Please Shake!)

It was my pleasure to be invited to show my steampunk snowglobes, whimsical waterglobes and curious inventions over the Memorial Day weekend in San Jose, California as part of the Vendor’s Bazaar for Clockwork Alchemy.

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I’m a newbie to “cons” — some of us lead sheltered lives! I was just out in my workshop, making stuff & sometimes glueing my fingers together, while apparently this entire WORLD of interesting people was out there making costumes and developing unique characters to share. I mean: oh, my goodness! There are some cool, clever and talented folks out there!

So … Clockwork Alchemy was a unique steampunk part of a larger Con, Fanime. Here’s a little about that:

FanimeCon is Northern California’s largest anime convention. Packed with videos, costumes, music, games, parties, tournaments, panels, and guests from around the world, this annual celebration of Japanese art and popular culture entertains a colorful spectrum of fans and friends.

Anyone who registered for one con, could attend either one or both – there was so much going on they had two locations and shuttles between them. Which means, in addition to seeing steampunk attenders, now and then, we’d get a visitor clearly dressed for the other Con – maybe a Hello Kitty Darth Vader, or a Dr. Who devotee. I was enthralled to see how much love and attention to detail when into everyone’s attire.

Of course, few artists such as myself who were showing at the steampunk-themed Clockwork Alchemy con did not wander off to the convention center to see the goings-on over there: we mostly stayed put with our art. Plus, I was too excited to hear the responses people had with the snow globes, which are very interactive. And, I had to be there to say, 100 times a day “PLEASE shake the snow globes.” Because we have been trained not to touch art, and so many people looked wistfully at the globes, but were hesitant to touch. We had this sign posted to encourage folks — you have to shake the interior and see the shimmering metallic dust swirl and settle to completely enjoy the snow globe and waterglobe experience.

Seriously, what’s the worst that could happen? You could drop it and it would break. Alas! Sparkles happen! And the next thing is, I’d scoop up the parts and fix it. Trust me: there’s barely a sculpture that I didn’t drop myself while it was being made. They are pretty sturdy.

Glass, on the other hand, is not sturdy, and will break. This is not the end of the world, nor necessarily the end of your snowglobe – most glass can be repaired (if the glass is a standard size, as these are.) I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, but we did have one remarkable incident … The author and illustrator of the excellent book, Boilerplate, were at the table next to us. As guests of honor, they were coming and going a bit, doing panels and interviews. Late on day four, they knew they wouldn’t be back to the table due to an obligation and packed up, and invited us — Camryn Forrest Designs — to spread out the snow globes to their empty table. While I was doing this, I managed to DROP A SNOW GLOBE. Yes, I did. Slipped right out of my hand when I was carelessly moving two at once. And just like a slow-motion movie, I saw it tumble out of my hand, bounce off the cushioned seat of the hotel chair, and hit the carpeted floor. I honestly thought I heard a collective gasp around me from the other artists.

Waited for the cracking sound and the leaking liquid on the floor. And … nothing happened. Nothing. The snowglobe did not break. (It was this one, for the record, a beautiful model of a Tesla Coil.)

I’ve broken a few snowglobes in my days, but this one survived the fall. I sort of wish there was a youtube video of my face as it happened: first, I would have been talking and not paying attention to what I was doing, then the realization that it was slipping out of my hands, the fear as I scrambled to catch it, the sadness as I realized it had dropped on the floor, the anticipation of seeing broken glass and leaking liquid, the perplexed look when it didn’t happen, the wonder when I picked it up and discovered: this snowglobe just bounced. But again, don’t try this at home!

Just to be super-duper sure, we decided not to sell that snow globe at the convention, but brought it back home to Colorado. If it hasn’t leaked in the next week, I am going to say it’s just a miracle. But so far, not a drop of liquid, no bubble has appeared atop the globe, so somehow the seal held. Whew!

In addition to the good people from Boilerplate, we were treated to neighbors on our other side of the booth in Tinkertart. Not only do they create fun steampunk jewelry, one of them takes pretty great photos to show you what the Con looked like from inside the Artists Bazaar. I had promised myself I wouldn’t buy everyone else’s art, but I was so tempted! The straw fascinators at Strawbenders had me .. fascinated! But I held back and came home with the same hats I brought with me. Sigh. Next time.

One of the cool things about Clockwork Alchemy (and there were many), was the Telegraph Office. If you got a message to someone at the Con, and knew generally where they were, you could have a free telegram sent. I mean, young men in dashing hats, marching into our area and yelling “Telegram, Telegram for Camryn Forrest.” (Thank you to Alexander Watt Babbage for that thrill!) So, we sent a telegram to our very young friend at Tinkertart, and that was a thrill for us, since he certainly wasn’t expecting anyone to call out his name at a Con.

Here are a few photos to show you more about Clockwork Alchemy.