JUSTIN MILES AUTOMATA
Links
Below you'll find links to automata artists and creators that inspire me, and various useful sites that have helped me polish my craft a little more over the years.
Artists and creators
(in no particular order...)
Tamaya Shobei IX
Karakuri Ningyo artisan and Master, Japan
Tamaya Shobei's website can be found here: http://karakuri-tamaya.jp/en/index.html
In 2017 I had the once in a lifetime experience of meeting Tamaya Shobei the Ninth. An amazing karakuri artisan and kind and generous gentleman. I was asked to participate in a Japanese Tokyo-TV show 'Who Wants to Go To Japan?' that aired July 20th, 2018. I spent nearly a whole week with Tamaya-san, and was treated to viewing many classic karakuri designs, including two national treasures. The TV program managed to arrange some amazing experiences for me, and I feel rather humble to have spent time with Tamaya-san.
I will add a page chronicling my experiences and what I learned (lots!) in the near future.
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Here's Tamaya-san posing with one of his re-creations, and also with my modest attempt at an Archer on the right!
Here's the show -
An Update-
Despite the fact that I am featured in this program, Tokyo TV continues to not allow me to share this content. They're a little stubborn it seems, and not particularly fair to the artists they use in the programs they generate. Im sure if the right eyes saw this message, they would allow me to do so; it makes zero sense. But anywho, different strokes for different folks...
(I will add some stills from the show at some point.)
Paul Spooner
Automata Artist, UK
Paul is one of my favourite automata artists. I love his sence of humor and the whimsy of his contraptions. He fits a lot of charm into a small place! Below is a youtube vid for an exhibit of his work showing in SanFransisco.
More about Paul here: http://www.cabaret.co.uk/artists/paul-spooner/
Paul with his longtime partner in crime, Sue at AutomataFest2025, Hastings, England.
Whos a dangerously unabashed fanboy? This guy!!
Tim Hunkin
Automata Artist, Mechanical Guru, UK
You can't have Paul without Tim, and visa-versa. Tim is another one of those granddads of Automata, kinetic sculpture and mechanical marvels, with a wicked fun sense of humor. (They both have been complimenting each other for many years to great success.) Tim is famous for his BBC television series from the 70s and early 80s call The Secret Life of Machines. This program is very entertaining and extremely engaging for all automata enthusiasts. He also has two extremely fun arcade game style shops, one in Holborn, London called Novelty Automation, and another on the Southwold Pier, Southwold, East Sussex known as Under the Pier Show. If you're traveling the UK, both very much worth visiting.
Dangerously unabashed fanboystrikes again...
More about Tim here: https://www.timhunkin.com/
instagram : https://www.instagram.com/novelty_automation
Keith Newstead
Another big inspiration is Keith Newstead. He was one of the leading automata makers in the UK, indeed the world. Sadly Keith passed away in 2020, but his inspiration drives automata artists to this day.
Website here: http://www.keithnewsteadautomata.com/my-work/
Link here to the Guardian obituary on Keith
Dug North
Dug is another great automata artist who has a fantastic website and blog. You'll find current news and various interesting finds here http://blog.dugnorth.com/.
Website here: http://dugnorth.com/
Dave Goodchild, aka Antykithera_man
Dave is fascinated, amongst automata and other things, with the Antikythera device, a very advanced and very early brass geared astronomical tool or clock (of sorts) you may have heard of - found in a shipwreck off the shores of the Island of Antikythera in Greece. Dave makes and sells various automata, and a particular reproduction of the Antikythera device made mostly from wooden gears!
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Check out his work here: https://www.instagram.com/antikythera_man
Dave taking a beating from one of his creations
Fi Henshall
Automata Artist, UK
Fi Henshall is an automata artist based out of Cornwall, close to a few other automata artists like Paul Spooner, Carlos Zapata, and others. Must be something in the water...
​Check out her work here: https://www.instagram.com/fi.henshall.automata
Cara Jane Hayman
Polymer Clay Artist and Tutor, UK
Cara is a polymer clay artist who recently started incorporating her considerable sculpturing talents into simple automata, experimenting with using the clay for components as well!
​​Check out her work here: https://www.instagram.com/@carajaneuk
Martin Stock
Automata Artist, Germany
Martin makes odd automata (just my opinion, I still love them!) from found objects. There seems to be a nautical theme in a lot of them...
​​Check out her work here: https://www.instagram.com/mstock2018
Tom Haney
Automata Artist, US
Tom Haney's work is pure poetry in motion. Beautiful designs with subtle but meaningful gestures, his work is full of context and story. Well worth viewing.
​​Check out Toms work here: https://www.instagram.com/@tomhaneyartwork
The House of Automata
Magic & Mechanical Life. Michael and Maria Start
Michael and Maria Start are world known for their automata restoration, bring back to life the mechanical wonders of very old automata, some perhaps 200 years old.
They also love to preserve old but enduring side-show entertainment, including the classic Flea Circus. Much fun to be had! I have had the pleasure of watching one performance in a very intimate setting. Unforgettable and so much fun!
​​Check out The House of Automata here: https://www.instagram.com/thehouseofautomata
This is the first time they've performed Michael and Maria Starts Flea Circus in five years was in May of 2025 @AutomataFest 2025 in Hastings, UK
Ivan Morgan
Automata Artist, UK
Ivans automata are extremely charming contraptions that rely on phun humor and ingenious sound making devices that he is constantly experimenting with. He doesn't sell any of his work, but is very generous with his methods and helping other automata enthusiasts.
​​Check out Ivans work here: http://www.positivelycreative.co.uk/ivans-automata.html
Per Helldorff - Pers Mechanical Cabinet
Automata Artist, Sweden
Per makes automata cabinets, larger contraptions in fancy cabinets with wooden gears exposed - that when cranked, surprise the viewer with open doors and some kind of fun and rather odd entrainment. I got to meet Per and his wife Anna at the AutomataFest 2025 in Hastings, UK. One of his cabinets that I had the pleasure of viewing had me cranking for ages until some doors opened to reveal a small frog. I kept cranking, and a heavy fried egg falls out of the top and flattens the frog.
Very Monty-Python-ish humor from a polite and unassuming Per Helldorff.
​​Check out his work here: https://www.helldorff.se/
Rob Ives
Paper Automata Artist, UK
Rob Ives specializes in card model designs of automata, and has published several books detailing how you can make many of these yourself. A public school teacher by trade, Rob now concentrates on publishing educational material, using paper craft as his material of choice. A great starting point for learning the art of automata. I highly recommend his work, for all ages!
​​You can find Rob's work here: https://www.robives.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robivescom
Lisa Slater
Artist, Automata Artist, UK
Another automata artist new to the scene is Lisa Slater. Lisa makes automata with simple movements, but are extremely charming and beautifully designed and decorated. Lisa is another artist who started out as a teacher but has now transitioned to full time artist and automata maker.
​​You can find Lisa's work here: https://www.lisaslater.org.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/automatamaker/
Kazuaki Harada
Automata Artist, Japan
Kazuaki Harada is a Japanese artist and automata maker who specializes in pure charm. Strongly influenced (I think) by Paul Spooner, Kazuaki makes small beautifully crafted crankers that just ooze fun. He also makes and shares wooden arcade-style games, attracting young and old alike to his relatively new Musee AUTOMOTON, a small museum he has built near his home in Yamaguchi, Japan.
​​You can find Kazuaki's automata museum site here: https://automaton.nizo.jp/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kazu_automata/