I introduced my first kaleidoscopes in 2001. Over the years I made thousands and shipped to over 120 art galleries/craft stores throughout the United States and Japan. Other scopes found a home when they were purchased at an art/craft show where I was exhibiting. They are well represented in many private kaleidoscope and craft collections and have been gifted for all types of occasions.
They were large and small, several were one of a kind, or maybe I made a few of something and moved on to other designs . Many were numbered limited editions, others were production models. The bodies of the scopes were handcrafted primarily from wood. And I enjoyed making lamp-worked glass pieces for the object cells. I precisely cut and assembled all of the (front-surface) mirrors. The kaleidoscopes had numerous different mirror system configurations, with from 2 to 4 mirrors, some unique to me. Many created exotic, 3D images, others more traditional, wonderful mandalas.
Yes, I have ventured on to other things and I am excited about the possibilities. To acknowledge and document all of that discussed above, I plan to compile the kaleidoscope photos accumulated over the years and include a retrospective on this page.
In the meantime, there is the “legacy” site, and there are still a few scopes available (see the “Summary” at that site), such as “Perspectives Parlor” below.
Link to the legacy
A. W. Scopes kaleidoscopes website
