Dr. Insectus

Name: Dr.Insectus
Shop Name: InSectus Artefacts
Shop Link: insectus.etsy.com
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Ships To: All places imaginable, including hot-air balloons, zeppelin cockpits, secret science labs and submarine escape pods

What inspires you?
Junk. Old men's musty garages are especially exciting.
Words. Fernando Pessoa is delicious, although, stuck on a desert island, I'd probably take The Three Musketeers or a full size Oxford dicitonary.
Movies. I like being in a dark room with those lights flickering, and I prefer to hear the film reel if possible. Films by the Brothers Quay and Jan Svankmajer make me tingle. Gypsy shenanigans by Emir Kusturica and Tony Gatlif make me shimmy.
Music. Last year I went to the Guca trumpet festival in Serbia. That's my kinda gig. But I'll take John Coltrane with an espresso too.
Etsy. I love that you can type in 'cabbages and kings' or 'flux capacitor' and come up with stuff. Currently besotted with BarbaraTaramasso. Drool.



Is this a job for you or a hobby?
Hmm. Hobby kinda sounds like I don't take it seriously, but I don't make money off it, either. Can I say I'm a volunteer? Cheesy I work in a library during the day and by night sprout steamy wings. I hope one day to be able to do just this, and write. That would be wonderful.

How did you get into your craft?
I used to paint and sculpt. But things just kept getting smaller and smaller until jewelry was my only option.



Do you have any advice for fellow Etsy shop owners?
Work to a niche. Don't take sales to heart, they indicate demand and self-promotion, not necessarily the quality of work.

What do you love about Steampunk?
In a lot of ways Steampunk seems like a backlash against the mass produced and the sameness of modern culture, proposing a return to craftsmanship and artistic integrity. And madness, naturally. The mad scientist is my Steampunk character champion. Bring on the test tubes and foggy indecipherables in jars...



Anything else you would like to add?
The Steamteam has been the place I've felt most at home on Etsy. Thanks, my steamers! *toot*