If you have a Yahoo account you can see some of the pictures from the Stowe Kaleidoscope Festival.
I used a batch resizer on the photos instead of touching them up individually so some of them are a bit dark, fuzzy because of low light, etc…. But you can still get an idea of the variety of scopes that were there.
http://photos.yahoo.com/skygrazer1 – then open the stowe2006 folder.
The weekend of July 8th I went to the Stowe, Vermont Kaleidoscope Festival. The delay in posting about it was because I was at a fun but exhausting polymer clay retreat this weekend and only had a few days between the two events to recover and prepare for the next one.
Stowe is an absolutely gorgeous place and well worth a nice relaxing vacation anyway. The weather was beautiful and we really enjoyed being there – they even drive politely! 
I met Stephen and all the great folks from Stowe Craft. The gallery has some really nice stuff besides the kaleidoscopes. There were some gorgeous glass pieces which made me wish I had a teleidoscope with me to look at them.
The event was on Saturday and Sunday. There had to be a couple hundred scopes set out in the Stowe Design Center, both inside and in a tent outside. I looked through most if not all of them and I do think image is almost everything. There were some scopes with really nice exteriors but rather boring images and I didn’t spend any time on looking through those. I found I really liked the sidelit oil cells with black backgrounds so I’m going to try a couple of those. I saw a few people using polymer clay in their oil cells, and I bought one of the Durettes scopes with a really stunning image made up of pieces of colored coiled wire. I saw some wearable scopes by the Healeys – I’d seen pictures before but never realized how small they actually are. The ring scope with the turning end was adorable
I got to meet Scott Cole and Sheryl Koch who were both really, really nice. I got some suggestions from them which would probably have made the whole trip worthwhile alone. I don’t think Scott would mind if I shared one of them which is basically to just practice. He pointed out that people usually only cut and assemble mirrors when they’re actually building a scope and you don’t really develop a good technique until you’ve done it time after time after time. I’ve tried a number of different ways of doing things but my volume isn’t too high so I often get inconsistent results. I think I’m going to use some scraps and just try assembling over and over again until I figure out exactly the best way to make it work for me.
Sheryl was working on making some really nice stained glass wheels throughout Saturday and Scott was teaching people to make pvc scopes. Dave and I both took his class on Sunday where we built a really nice brass scope with a ball-bearing turning end. The workshop was only about 4 hours but it was well worth it. If you ever have a chance to take one of Scott’s classes, I’d highly recommend it. And the ball bearing turning end is soooo smooth.
I brought about 6 of my own scopes to the festival, plus some kit based pocket scopes I had. I didn’t sell anything that weekend but Stowe Crafts did keep one of my oil-globe scopes on consignment. Technically I have a few things to improve on – my mirrors could use some work but they weren’t the worst. I also think I’d have to spend less time on the exteriors of simple tumble scopes so the price could be comparable with other people’s production scopes, and save the time and innovation for really distinctive, ‘Wow’ one of a kind scopes with great images. I’d probably also have to include a light with polarized scopes because they really don’t show to advantage in a dim environment.
Sorry it’s been awhile since I last blogged. I’ve been having intermittant vision problems – finally found out it’s probably migraines with aura – and was mostly staying off the computer at home.
Soo… to catch up. I haven’t put any new scopes up on the site yet but you can see a few new and reworked ones here in the May album if you have a Yahoo login: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/skygrazer1
Otherwise click on the filenames in this directory: http://www.skygrazer.com/pics/may06scopes/
I’ll be taking those scopes and a couple others up to the Kaleidoscope Festival in Vermont. Dave and I will be taking a class from Scott Cole while we’re there. Should be loads of fun (at least for me, and Dave is being a REALLY good sport) and I’m really looking forward to it. And we’re being really decadent and renting a convertible for the drive up
I’ve read about the liquid filled ampules some kaleidoscope artists make. You can see examples here.
I got some glass tubes – 5mm flint glass scraps from www.sciplus.com (along with lots of other good stuff). I think I’ve concluded that I can’t do a liquid filled ampule with my current equipment and knowledge but I did come up with something I liked. 
I’m using a tiny little $9 butane torch from the hardware store. It works great on melting 1mm stringer and can bend 2mm but it takes longer. I heated the end of one tube and then twisted it shut. The twists look a bit messy but I think they’d probably still look good in an image. Then I filled a short section of the tube with tiny holeless beads. I then heated and twisted (or compressed and pulled) a bit above the beads to close off the tube and pull the section free.
It worked pretty well but I think it took longer than a liquid could handle and I don’t think I always got a perfect end seal. The neat thing is now I
can suspend tiny objects within the cell so they don’t all clump at the bottom of the object chamber. It does take some time and patience though – at least without an actual glass torch.
So guess what I did? I ordered a beginners glass torch! We’ll see how much I end up using it
I recently came across this profile on Leonard Olson of The Kaleidoscope Factory: Kaleidoscope maker sees life metaphor in changing images.
The simple beauty of the kaleidoscope first captured Leonard Olson’s attention in 1997, when at age 44, he had a heart attack that led to bypass surgery.
During his hospital stay, friends brought him a kaleidoscope to cheer him up. He adopted woodworking as a hobby during his recovery. He didn’t know at the time that the two would come together to inspire his current career, one that gives him more joy and far less stress than the employee benefits business he runs in Colorado.
For Olson, kaleidoscopes now provide a valuable metaphor for life and how quickly it can change.
“Just when you think you’ve encountered the most beautiful image possible in a kaleidoscope, a slight shift will change everything,” he writes on his Web site. “At first, you may feel very disappointed … however, while different, the new image is also beautiful and you discover that more changes will produce still more beautiful images.”
Each of Olson’s kaleidoscopes designs, about 10 of them, are different from the others. While he buys some of the components – brass, glass and acrylic – he crafts the wooden parts in his shop. No templates, no patterns and pure tung oil to finish. He says his tools aren’t the best, but he puts a lot of care into his craft.
If you’re in the Rhode Island area, you can see my kaleidoscopes on exhibit at the Clark Memorial Library in Richmond. If they’re not too busy, ask one of the librarians if they can unlock the case so you can pick up the kaleidoscopes and see the different views.
I’ll also be teaching a kaleidoscope workshop on April 6th at 7pm. We’ll be making a basic kaleidoscope from a kit and covering it with fabric. Normally, I’d use polymer clay but we wouldn’t have the time in a 2 hour class. The class is only $8, which covers the materials. You can signup by contacting the library at(401) 364-6100. Hope to see you there
Just finished a new kaleidoscope. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Nice article on a shop called Kaleidokites and their One-of-a-kind Kaleidoscopes.
There’s an unrequited love behind every handmade kaleidoscope in Kaleidokites, a Eureka Springs shop.
The artists often use the same high-tech metals and glazings deployed by space shuttle engineers to create kaleidoscope patterns resembling fireworks and meteors on a night sky. Yet the toys are labor-intensive and, like any Old World craft, their worth relies on the artist’s hand and mood.
There’s a new group over on Yahoo for anyone who is interested in kaleidoscopes. We have people from every skill level – from professional artists to people who are just starting and haven’t made a scope yet. There are artists who make scopes in polymer clay, glass, wood, and found objects.
The group actually started about 8 years ago on the Delphi forums by Gabriel Wizard. He has copied over alot of the old posts so there is some great archived information in the Files. We also have a monthly challenge to make a new scope if you’d like to join in.
Drop on by and ask some questions
I’ve got my mirror cutting table all set up and I really like it. If you’re interested in cutting your own mirrors, I highly recommend DOn Doak’s two videos. One is available from DelphiGlass. The other, which covers building your own magnetic cutter is available directly from the Doak’s. Email me if you’d like their contact information.
You can see the new Manatee scope, the first one where I cut my own first surface mirror, in the Kaleidoscope gallery.