Personally Defining an Ever-Changing Term: Part Two

One person I met within the steampunk subculture, Justin Stanley, known in the steampunk world as the Emperor of the Red Fork Empire, has created an entire world (rather, a fabric of worlds) based on allies inside of the community.  An artist working with illustration, graphic design and found-object art, he is associated with people such as Dr. Grymm and the Wandering Legion.  The stories as well as the aesthetic behind Stanley's individual creations reveal a high level of imagination and creativity.  I've had the pleasure of meeting this Emperor, along with his trademark logo and mechanical fist he has named 'the Will of the People', at the Live Steampunk Chess Event at the Essex as well as the Steampunk World's Faire 2011.  Ever since then I've been browsing his website (and I mean, that stuff's got a -lot- of content!) and I'm happy to say that he serves as one of the inspiring members of the steampunk community for me.

Justin Stanley, a.k.a The Emperor, kindly posing for me after the Mad Tea Party event at the Steampunk World's Faire 2011

I also have to mention Vicente Garcia, another artist who has been an inspiration to me ever since I transferred to a four-year college.  While he may not entirely be considered a 'steampunk' artist, he happens to currently be my professor and works with steel as well as clay.  I consider his aesthetic within the forms (which are mostly vessels) to be lightly linked with the aesthetic of the steampunk genre, though when I first communicated the term to him he didn't exactly seem to know what it meant (then again, who knows -exactly- what it means?).  As an artist, he displays unbelievable craftsmanship (I mean, this guy could make throwing giant vessels look like a two-minute job.  Can you throw a giant vessel in two minutes?).  As a professor, at first I thought he was very demanding.  But as it turns out, being an artist is indeed a very demanding job, and he should know.  Pushing us students is just his way of saying something to the effect of "listen, it's a tough world out there, so you have to show them that you're a committed hard worker."  What results after this semester should be very interesting.

One of Vicente Garcia's clay-and-steel forms