Mar 27, 2007

Kinetic sculptures a creative outletBy Shira SchoenbergConcordMonitor.com

While sailing and windsurfing several years ago, Dunbarton artist Ted Johnson fell in love with the wind. “I love the power of the wind. It puts the fear of God in you,” he said.

His love for the wind soon led to the birth of a business called Windscapes. For seven years, Johnson, who is in his mid-50s, has been designing and selling kinetic sculptures. His latest sculptures are made of bronze rods and copper pieces; one features a yellow crystal. The rods twist and turn into arcs and triangles, creating perfectly balanced artwork that spins in the wind.

“I like taking the raw material and forming it to something that moves and is pleasing to the eye,” Johnson said.

Johnson calls Windscapes his “creative outlet,” which is also an outgrowth of his other businesses. Until 1995, he owned a landscaping company in which he did the design and installation. He would finish a yard and tell customers they needed a piece of art to make the landscape come alive. But homeowners rarely bought the art. They told him they looked online and only found sculptures for hundreds or thousands of dollars.

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