Filed under: Beak of the Week | Tags: Berkley Illustration, crow, etsy, gentleman, raven
You, Sir, are delightful.
This scholarly Crow is one of many fabulous animal drawings created by Ryan of Berkley Illustration.
He also has a fun blog with a weekly action figure revue. very cool.
Filed under: Steampunk | Tags: Berkshire, Carnival, Carnivale, Carter Steam Fair, circus, fair, sideshow, steam punk, Steampunk
Here I make a little confession, I have a thing for carnivals.
A big thing.
I love it all, the corn dogs and candy floss, the musk of axle grease and sweat, the mystery, the spectacle and of course the glorious attractions.
The Carter Steam Fair is one of the few remaining old-style, steam-powered, traveling carnivals. With every attention to detail, the Fair is pulled by a spectacular fleet of vintage transport trucks, including a really cool 1932 Ford AA with a back-end that has been converted into candy floss stand.
Steam organ: photo by Tarnie ccEstablished in 1976 by John Carter, who had a passion for collecting and restoring old and interesting items, the Steam Fair is still going strong, traveling through London and into the surrounding areas 7 months out of the year.
All of the rides, some date back to the late 1800’s and early 1920’s, are powered by good old fashioned steam- the generators are awesome. As well as the beautiful rides and “games of chance,” Carter’s traveling arcade has the largest collection of vintage penny slot machines open to the public.
The Steam Yachts and Chair-O-Planes: photos by Steve Bowbrick cc
Should you find yourself in Berkshire during the warmer months, be sure to plan a visit to Carters Famous Royal Berkshire Steam Fair. If you can’t make it, you can live vicariously through others and see a huge set of great photos here.
For further enjoyment, if you like the darker side of carnival life and haven’t seen the two-season-long HBO series Carnivale- I highly recommend it.
Filed under: Beak of the Week | Tags: Alice Muhlback, crow, etsy, raven, Spirit and Kitsch
This sneaky little raven was created by Alice Muhlback of Spirit and Kitsch.
You can also visit her artists’ collective on Etsy.
Filed under: Steampunk | Tags: Arcana, clockwork, Comic, Grant Bond, Kevin Hanna, Sean O'Reilly, Steampunk, The Clockwork Girl
Beautifully illustrated by Grant Bond, The ClockWork Girl is a Romeo and Juliet inspired comic with a “clockwork” girl, a mutant boy and their warring families.
On one side is The Tinker, the Clockwork Girl’s creator, who is the world’s leading machine scientist. On the other side is Dendrus, The Tinker’s former friend and Huxley the mutant boy’s creator, who represents the side of biology and natural science. While the two scientist are locked in an intense rivalry, their “children” develop a great friendship.
Creators Sean O’Reilly and Kevin Hanna have created a fantastic story that really does appeal to all ages.
The Clockwork Girl is published by Arcana and there are currently 3 excellent full issues. If you are having trouble finding them in Toronto, the fabulous folks at The Beguiling will happily order them for you at no extra charge. For more information on The Clockwork Girl, see her MySpace page and the Arcana KIDS page with cool interactive extras.
The above are pages from Issue 0 which you can download for free at Arcana KIDS.
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It could be a bit tricky to explain the need for a cheek swab without blowing the surprise.
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