I create solar powered Calder mobiles and chimes.
Several years ago I had the idea to put a pager motor and solar cell together, and hang them by the axle of the motor. It worked, but only in full sun. Thats the basic idea from which most of my work has derived. From that idea, it has been constant improvement, mainly to get solar mobiles to work indoors but also to make solar powered chimes.
I am a maker of small electronics. I get components from around the world, for example, glass bells and pager motors from China. I design printed circuit boards using KiCad. OshPark makes them for me. I get electronic parts from Digikey, and solder them together. All in my home studio (my basement.)
I have made nearly a hundred designs. I have exhibited my solar mobiles in art galleries around the nation. I had a one-person exhibit at the Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh. Many of my art works are unique, I only make one.
But I have also put some designs into production, selling my art in on-line stores so that more people can enjoy them. This has required a different mind set, designing for ease of production and to shipping.
I also have built several large works intended for public art, including some for outdoors.
I have also built other works that use solar power, such as LED lamps, and synchronized LED blinkers.
I also contribute to open source software, helping maintain the GIMP application, and the Resynthesizer plugin.
