ABOUT THE ARTIST

Hi, I’m Lefty, the artist and maker behind TumbleGlow.

I’ve spent most of my life making things. Over the years, I’ve worked in all kinds of mediums and creative spaces, from designing entire restaurant interiors and environments to creating large-scale mixed-media canvases, furniture, installations, and custom lighting. I’ve always been drawn to taking interesting materials and figuring out what they could become.

TumbleGlow is my current obsession.

Living in Bend, I started looking at the tumbleweeds scattered across the high desert a little differently. They’re wild, weathered, intricate, and completely unique. I started experimenting with them as a material, and somewhere along the way, they became lights.

Each TumbleGlow begins with a tumbleweed that I gather by hand around Central Oregon. I clean it, shape it, reinforce it, fire-proof and carefully finish it before turning it into a functional light fixture. The natural form of each tumbleweed dictates the shape of the final piece, which means no two are ever exactly alike.

I love that balance between something completely natural and something carefully designed. The tumbleweed brings the texture, imperfection, and character. I get to step in and turn it into something functional, unexpected, and hopefully a little magical.

TumbleGlow is just the latest expression of a lifelong obsession with making things. I don’t know what material I’ll be obsessed with next, but for now, I’m having a hell of a lot of fun making lights out of tumbleweeds.

Thanks for supporting handmade art and a small creative business based in Bend, Oregon.

-Lefty
Founder & Maker, TumbleGlow