After a FMS workshop during the Winter of 2018 on ‘How to Make a Kaleidoscope’ presented by Brewster Kaleidoscope Society member Brenda Hedden, Gesa Lehnert waved her arms in the air and stated, “I want to make a big one!” Brenda suggested using an umbrella stand as a base and to start looking for one, but then David Kent shouted, “I have a collection of umbrella stands in my garage!”
And thus began the project!
Gesa began designing large sculptures using umbrella stands as their base. FMS member and Brenda’s husband, Brian Vaughan, helped bend the pipes with Gesa. The smooth tubes were covered with BX cable that could move with the attached scopes up and down (to reach viewers of different heights). Brian designed attachments so the scopes could travel separately in cases and be reattached at the site.
Then, Gesa and Brenda began work on the teleidoscopes; a type of kaleidoscope that have magnifying glass balls at the end so that anything the viewer looks at turns into a kaleidoscopic design. (With a kaleidoscope, the object case is attached at the end of the scope and is turned for various images.)
Our teleidoscope object case was an office chair with a circular snow sled mounted in place of the seat. It can be wheeled and turned around to provide movement. Various objects are put in the sled like beads, Mardi Gras masks, toys, ribbons, LED lights, feathers, hats, silk flowers, etc.
We eventually made four sculptures and took them to Art Week and Figment art shows in Boston. They were also at Framingham and Ashland Farmers’ Markets and at the Corner Spot in Ashland for the past several years. Now, two of the sculptures are on their way to the Sendai Kaleidoscope Art Museum in Japan! It is the world’s first and, so far, only kaleidoscope museum in the world! Gesa, her husband, Hilmar (who has done a fantastic job of organizing the shipping and supporting us), Brian and Brenda traveled to Sendai in May 2023 to reassemble them at the museum. It is quite an honor to be accepted at this museum and we are very excited to be a part of it.