acrylic

Piezo speaker housing /  by kelly heaton

Here's a prototype of a housing for a piezo speaker that I will actuate with analog electronic insect sounds. The shape of the housing and mechanical pressure on the piezo element will change the pitch as well as the volume. I made this housing by first laser cutting 1/4" acrylic and gluing the stacked rings to make a pyramidal-shaped buck — see images below. Note that there's a central hole all the way through the buck to aid the vacuum forming process. I’ve vacuum-formed .080” and .090" acrylic sheet over the buck (both work fine) and used a laser to cut the shapes out. My registration needs improvement, but you get the idea. The piezo element is mounted inside of the housing by a short length of plastic tube that I glued in place.

Below I show my process to cast the acrylic buck in plaster (using an alginate mold). I will use plaster, wood, or metal bucks in the future because acrylic deforms in the vacuum forming process. In either case, it is critical to use mold release.

Why am I doing this? Because when RadioShack went out of business, I could no longer buy the piezo speakers that I used for my insect sounds. I was forced to reverse engineer the part --which turned out to be a blessing because the sound of insects is heavily dependent upon the mechanics of speaker design (not just the electronics which drive the speaker). For a previous blog entry on this issue, link here or read about my project “Hacking Nature’s Musicians” on Hackaday.io

Electrolier in progress /  by kelly heaton

Scenes from my studio (May 24, 2018). Dyed and embroidered velvet moth wings, custom analog electronics, laser cut acrylic, wire sculpture.

Kundalini, 2018 /  by kelly heaton

Kundalini, 2018 (detail). Watercolor, acrylic, and analog electronics on paper. 15" x 11" x 3"

Kundalini, 2018 (detail). Watercolor, acrylic, and analog electronics on paper. 15" x 11" x 3"

I'm on a chip in the clouds /  by kelly heaton

"I'm on a Chip in the Clouds," 2017. Watercolor and acrylic on joined paper. 31" x 37"

Here's the story of how this crazy painting came to be. It was a rainy day, and so I started in my studio with a self-portrait in which I appeared to be daydreaming --hence the colors and thoughts around my head. At some point, the sun came out. I prefer to paint in the beautiful landscape that surrounds my home... so I joined additional paper to my canvas and went outside. Lost in my thoughts and distracted by my computer, I wasn't really present in the landscape. So I encapsulated myself on a computer chip that is floating in the clouds. And now, after all, my artwork has become a digital image file that I upload to the cloud.

Sundog, dream catcher, and man /  by kelly heaton

I've always felt that I could "see" electricity, but then I stumble when I try to paint it. I've gone back to working with the landscape to paint nature's electricity, or at least to study it as best as I can. Here's a sundog, dreamcatcher, and man …

I've always felt that I could "see" electricity, but then I stumble when I try to paint it. I've gone back to working with the landscape to paint nature's electricity, or at least to study it as best as I can. Here's a sundog, dreamcatcher, and man as seen in Clarke County, Virginia (watercolor and acrylic on paper, 2017). #painting #art #watercolor #acrylic #landscape#study #dream #meditation