Stately emperor penguins stand tall on an oil cell kaleidoscope Now you can see an actual video of the kaleidoscope and another of it in action playing along with some cool jazzy blues. Click play on the clip below.

Scopes I have for sale can be found in my Artfire shop in the Kaleidoscopes section. I loaded nice large photos here. If you have a slow connection, be patient. Scroll down to the bottom of this page for a few videos of this scope. Including one of the insides in motion. Please DO watch the videos. And that's just a tiny fraction of the possible patterns. It's much prettier in person.
The process I've been trying to make kaleidoscopes that are not only fun to use, but are also fine works of art. Art you can play with. I had the idea in mind for some time now to make a winter, or snow themed scope. Started collecting crystals and gems to use in the chamber but never really had an idea worth running with. Until.... I looked at some penguin photos and thought hey! I can sculpt a relief of those. So... on a flat tile, I started assembling the basics of a penguin. And when I got done, it looked more like a cartoon than a penguin. Disgusted, I called it a day and just let this sit. The next morning, I put my cartoon guys aside, and started over again. This time I tried a mother and baby penguin and oh wow I nailed it! Then I scooped them up, started to apply to my scope, only to realize, my adult was a good four inches too tall. ARGH! Well... the practice was worth it. I pulled my cartoon guys back in front of me and reworked them. This time they looked much better. I still have the other two and plan to make a flat piece of artwork with those. Eventually. Meanwhile, a glass artist just happened to contact me asking if I had scrap clay canes for her to play with. And offered some scrap glass in exchange! I hit the jack pot. I'd been asking glass artists for quite some time now to save me shards, chips, less than perfect pieces. All of which are fantastic in the chamber of a kaleidoscope. This was the first person who was happy to trade. And she sent me two big batches of stuff. I'm one happy crafter here. Now this scope uses mineral oil in the chamber. It does act as a buffer for the stuff inside, but it's pretty thin. I've since learned that silicon is a better option for kaleidoscopes. I do have another oil cell scope with silicon in the chamber, but it's a pre made chamber. Not as much fun as selecting the bits to use and matching them with the theme of the scope. I like that much more. I plan to use silicon in future scopes.
Enjoy the view inside set to some cool jazz.

Jenny Mehlenbeck is the creator and owner of Artmakers Worlds ©1999 - now.
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