This is in the idea stages as the world begins to move into a new phase of dealing with COVID-19.
Introduction
I have been attracted to doing "mods" on existing objects since my childhood. Imagining what it would be like to replace the mechanical guts of an appliance and put electronics there or take existing electronics and replace it with a digital brain. This turns out to have been in sync with a number of other folks and companies over the years as the costs and efficiency of electronics and computers have become realistic (some might say profitable).
I put myself in the creative category rather than good at monetizing a solution, others that I have connected to in the past have taken on that part of the puzzle. As companies made these imaginings real, through putting computers (micro controllers) in refrigerators, dishwashers, and even my coffee maker, these have been implemented in closed and proprietary ways, making any "mods" to them or even understanding how they work harder and harder.
Fortunately, the Open Source and Open Hardware moments of the past couple of decades has found a place for the "creative types" to bypass the monetizing focused and allowed for sharing of hacks, etc. providing at least the ability to understand. This shift has also enabled new folks to break the surface tension and allow people of all ages to understand that they too can Code or Make something. This has been exhilarating to me and each of the workshops that I could be involved in as a volunteer have been an enriching experience and allowed me to recapture the wonder of my nerdy youth.
While this has enabled many people, the whole maker movement (in the couple of years before COVID-19) was really embracing a wider group of folks, who were bringing non-computer arts and crafts into the fold.
Now as we emerge from the fully isolated and lock-down stages (hopefully) of the pandemic, I have been musing on what could bring together folks and help to combine the typical arts and craft - may your own thing, or at least paint it - to another level.
'Lectro-Blingify
I chose this moniker because Google says it cannot find any pages that qualify during a search (The name Electro Bling is apparently a Song https://soundcloud.com/jacobwoolsey/electro-bling-live ). The concept is to connect up with one of the local do-your-art store fronts (painting ceramics, candles, etc.) and hold small group sessions with inexpensive lighting or interactive examples and assistance for folks to augment their own art.
The idea came to me originally when I was at a Pop-Up Art Festival in one of the near-by down-towns, in the Bay Area, pre-COVID-19 these were hosted by various Cities on different weekends during the summer. The thing I noticed was the couple of booths that took simple Battery Operated LED light strings and outlined their products or the booth drew people in with longer interactions (these light strings are available at PierOne or Michaels and I'm sure the corner drug store now adays for $10-$15). The different in feel was quite noticeable. But, many of the vendors there didn't even have this in their toolset.
So, start with a name that folks immediately have some familiarity with but still say Huh? And give practical instruction they can immediately apply (such as the adding of an inexpensive string of LED lights in various colors). But, I am not there to monetize, I want to inspire, so, I can show how they can go from pre-packaged electronic strings of LEDs to adding a micro controller and control the show themselves, add a temperature sensor and have the LEDs represent the temperature, which they could add to a wall hanging thermometer (replacing the Mercury Glass bit with lights).
Next Steps
I plan to use this Blog Space to detail a couple of projects that I have lying around the house (many that I built for various Halloween's in years gone by) and keep this updated with my progress of connecting with local Crafting Storefronts or Library Spaces.
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