Backlit Marble Art

Several weeks ago, I was visiting a museum that had a light fixture in their staircase that was created by sandwiching marbles between a metallic grid. I thought this was a great idea worth exploring a little further. I have a black book where I sketch ideas for future projects, and one of them was to backlight some glass-art. As a proof of concept, this project was perfect to test my frame, the lights, and marbles as a stand in for the glass.

Materials needed:

1. Picture Frame
2. Acrylic sheet (or similar) -2 sheets
3. Colored Marbles
4. Adhesive LED light strip
5. Touch activated light switch
6. Electrical tape or wire nuts
7. Batteries (for LED light strip)
8. Paper, pen, sharpie, and colored markers
9. Tape
10. Glass cleaner/paper towels

Tools needed:

1. Compass and ruler
2. Punch (to mark where holes will be drilled)
3. Drill gauge
4. Drill and drill bits
5. Screwdriver (to assemble the frame)
6. Wire-strippers (to wire the switch/LED's)
7. Saw (to cut acrylic to size)

When designing this, it was really convenient to have a light table. I wanted the marbles to be inset into the acrylic in a spiral-like pattern. After some initial coloring tests with markers on paper, I decided the best way for the spiral to look like it had movement was to drill holes of different sizes. If all the holes were the same size the design looked static and lifeless. I settled on 1/2" marbles and tested different size holes, too large and the marbles would fall through- too small and you wouldn't be able to see the colors very well.

I decided on a heptagonal shape, to represent each color of the rainbow- good old R.O.Y. G. B.I.V. (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet). I drew several tests and landed on a design with 7 circles, of 5 different sizes: (8mm, 3/8", 10mm, 12mm, 1/2", 12mm, and 10mm) Each "arm" of the spiral needed to curve to help it look like it was in motion. The first step was to ensure the marbles were far enough away from each other that they would not overlap. I used a compass to lay out 7 circles, and used the drill gauge to plot the size of each circle. Then, to draw the spiral, I overlaid the pattern on a heptagon grid and offset each circle an amount equal to a full drill gauge from the circle below the one being drawn, always towards the left. Once this was laid out for one full "arm", I used a compass to step-off the circle to ensure there were 7 evenly spaced holes around the circle.

The last step was to color the designs with markers to figure out which pattern looked best. I liked the colors "stair-stepping" down the spiral as opposed to a solid color for each arm or layer. I also felt like the spiral alone was not enough to fill the frame, and decided to include a border of marbles all around the outside.

I have discussed this in a few posts, but the best place to find affordable frames is second hand stores. At this point I have more picture frames than I have projects for. The picture frame I used for this project is 19" X 16". Someone at some point paid good money to have a professional art store put together this frame, and I was able to get it for $3.99. If you want to have a heart attack, take your art to a Craft/Art store and ask them how much it will cost to mat and frame it. I'm sure hundreds of woodworking careers have been launched when they wanted to frame something...it's HOW MUCH? I have 2 pieces of Acrylic/plastic that will fit the bill for this. One is an old Recycle sign. That one is not exactly acrylic, but it is strong enough for what I need- to hold the back side of the marbles and be light-weight. I used the glass from the picture frame to get an exact measurement and cut the Acrylic to size. Once that was done, I could lay out the spiral pattern on the back side of the Acrylic.

I layered both pieces together and secured it with tape, so I would be drilling both pieces at the same time.

This step was a little tedious and made me wish I had a laser cutter. Make sure you have a good drill and drill all the holes with a sharp, brad point drill-bit. Be careful as you drill to not put too much pressure on the Acrylic or it will crack. The design looks amazing, but creates a lot of weak spots that could crack if you are not careful. Once the holes are drilled, separate the 2 pieces and make sure there are no burrs left behind. Clean up all the holes and clean the panels with some glass cleaner.

Now we get to the fun part, putting this all together. Lay the Acrylic into the frame with the nice side facing out. Use the paper version you created as a guide and set all the marbles into place. Install the touch activated light switch at the same time. Then install the second layer on top of the first to capture all the marbles and hold them in place. This style of frame uses springs to put tension on the panels, and keeps the marbles from falling out. Attach the adhesive LED's to the back and make sure it works! Follow the instructions that come with your switch to ensure it is wired correctly. I used a 9V battery to power my LED's. Once everything is in place, hang it up and test it out!

After I got the switch installed properly (it may have taken me a few tries of trial and error) I learned that the light switch had a dimming feature! You simply touch the disc to turn it on, and touch and hold to dim the light lower or brighter. The piece works exactly as I had hoped. When you hang this kind of art in a window, the light provides the "shine." But when this is hanging on a wall, you just see a dark figure, and the (very obvious) metal button makes you want to touch it when you get close to it. Once you touch the light switch/button- it comes alive. The light switch has a blue circle that illuminates when it is in the ON position. In the future, I would love to incorporate a motion sensor, so that when someone gets close to the art, the blue light around the switch illuminates, making it even more irresistible. It would be great to program an Arduino and have this be interactive, whether motion activated or a type of audio visualizer controlled by nearby music/sounds.