Overbury Ink

In April of 2008 I started to make rings just for fun after Catherine (My better half) learned how to make simple wire rings. Since then I spent several hours every day perfecting and developing my own technique to create an original design. I quickly started to make very retro-futurist styles of rings. At that time I quit my job to live on my jewelry full-time. Since then I have had over 1900 sales on ETSY and also had the chance to see my work featured at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford during the first Major Steampunk art Exhibition.





One day a friend told me what I was doing was Steampunk. I researched the subject and quickly fell in love with this culture. I always liked Steampunk but I didn’t know there was a name for it. What attracts me the most about Steampunk is the Aesthetics. Because it is a relatively new style of science fiction and it is not widely known, you can let your imagination create almost anything. There is a lot of space for creativity within the Steampunk genre.





Because I didn’t know about Steampunk when I first started and I had no influence from other Artist, I used my own imagination to create a unique style within the Steampunk genre. I imagined what people would wear in a Steampunk Era and what would match well with the Steampunk outfits I saw people wearing across the web. By combining the mechanical and organic shapes with antiqued metals, brass and copper, I invented my vision of what Steampunk Jewelry would look like.





I was born in 1976 in Montreal. My family was French Canadian until I was orphaned at 12 years old. I was adopted into the family of close friends, of Spanish and French background. In my new family my French father is a Painter and teacher, one of my brothers is a musician, the other a computer analyst director and my Spanish mother the manager of a coffee shop for several years. What they all have in common is the passion they put in what they do and I have learned a lot from each of them.




Since I was young I always been interested in Fantasy, Dungeon and Dragons and Science Fiction. I mixed my passion for D&D and Steampunk together to make one of my most popular pieces: my Steampunk Beholder Robot, which was featured on BoingBoing and also displayed the Oxford Steampunk Exhibition.



I always been of an artistic nature. Most of the time I drew monsters and dragons but I also learned Origami. I sang in a punk band with my brother and I also used to play bass guitar.





I also traveled a lot and it is during my journeys that I learned photography. I had one of my recent pictures of Big Ben UK featured in a travel guide and I also was featured on a photography website: The Incredible Steampunk Jewelry Photography of Daniel Proulx





My work experience went from Working in a Banana Plantation in Australia to School manager and teaching in Japan to Travel agent, working Finance and finally a Jewelry designer.





Each of my rings are One of a Kind pieces. Eventually I developed new techniques that allowed me to widen my collection. I went from very Industrial designs to something that represent the Victorian side of Steampunk. Such as this Bracelet with Czech Glass and the Necklaces with Glass Jewel.





One of Daniel’s rings was worn by Claudia in the 2nd episode of Warehouse 13 ! and is seen in the SyFy clip from Allison Scagliotti:
Do It With Style! – Warehouse 13 : Allison Scagliotti’s Video Blog: Allison gives you a peek into what makes up Claudia’s personal style.



A few recent accomplishments:
21 May 2009 – Steampunk D&D Beholder sculpture featured on BoingBoing.com
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13 October 2009 – Participation in The first Steampunk Exhibition to be held at a Major Museum ,The Museum of the History of Science Oxford UK
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14 January 2010 – The Incredible Steampunk Jewelry Photography of Daniel Proulx www.lightstalking.com
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20 February 2010 – Article about Steampunk in the Montreal Gazette Newspaper


Upcoming Events and Features:
31 July 2010 – Vending at the Grand Picnic Victorien Montreal
14 to 22 august – Vending at Hot Air Balloons festival – International de Montgolfieres – Saint -Jean-sur-Richelieu.
27 to 29 August – Guest at FanExpo Canada . Steampunk Meet-and-Greet Soiree at the Royal York Library Bar , participation in the “Steampunk 101” panel
and more … http://www.fanexpocanada.com/
Feature in 1000 Steampunk Inspiration Book


Links :
Etsy : http://www.etsy.com/shop/CatherinetteRings
Facebook Page : http://tinyurl.com/facebooksteampunk
Blog : http://steampunkrings.blogspot.com/
DeviantArt : http://catherinetterings.deviantart.com/
Twitter : http://twitter.com/steampunkrings
Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielproulx/
Artfire : http://www.artfire.com/users/CatherinetteRings

Are you a Steampunk Artist? Writer? Designer? I want to feature you on SteamTuesday! Leave a comment for me to get back to you.
Did you like this feature? “Like” it on Facebook! Share it with your friends – support handmade art.
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This weeks blog tour:
OM Grey’s Caught in the Cogs feature: Among the Ruins
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It’s still Canuck Steampunk month over at the Steampunk Scholar’s blog: Whitechapel Gods