Arizona artist Steve Failows has taken a popular toy often found in gift shops and transformed it into a collectible art form sold in exclusive galleries around the country. Specializing in creating “one of a kind” ceramic kaleidoscopes mounted on fossils, crystals, and wood.
Reflective symmetry has been observed since ancient times. Legend claims that early Egyptians would place two or three slabs of highly polished limestone together at different angles and watch with fascination as mandalas were formed by human dancers.
The kaleidoscope was invented by Sir David Brewster of Scotland in 1816. His primary field of study was optics and the physics of light. Brewster’s kaleidoscope was met with much enthusiasm.
The fun and nostalgic nature of the kaleidoscope has fueled Steve’s passion to stay young at heart since he made his first scope in 1984.
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”