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Solar FLAG Lights

When I first launched Gallery 69 (a Free Little Art Gallery) I had this plan to add a light inside and have it solar powered. That never happened, but Dana offered me a set of battery powered holiday lights when winter came and I put it on the outside of the gallery so you could see it after 3:45pm when it started to get dark outside.

I would swap out a set of AA batteries every week or two depending on how long they would last and how often I would remember. I decided to revive the solar idea to power the lights. Here’s where I will add the disclaimer that I am terrible with calculating power requirements. Terrible. Too much maths for me. Anyway…

I had this Solar Panel from Brown Dog Gadgets which I wasn’t sure would work, but I had it so I figured I would start with that. I got these CN3065 Solar Charger Boards for cheap not expecting much. I also had my eye on an Adafruit solar charging board but they were out of stock, which seems to happen a lot with Adafruit. I grabbed a bunch of JST connectors as well.

For the battery I tore apart an old USB power bank. It was probably 10+ years old but it seemed to still work so hey, I’m cheap. (Don’t worry, I still have at least a dozen working power banks.) I did do a bit of testing to see how long it go before the voltage dropped too low. That testing is part of another project still in the works. Anyway…

Remember when I was making Rugged Box Silicone Gasket Seals? Well, I printed a rugged box with a hole in the top, hot glued the solar panel to it, ran the wires through the hole, and then sealed the hole and wires with hot glue. (Somehow I have no photo of that.)

Okay, I needed to power the lights, which worked with 3 AA batteries, so I used these Customizable Dummy Battery(s). Originally I was going to print three, wire them up, and use that… Along the way I only used one to make contact with the negative connector then used alligator clips for the rest of the connections. This is one of those “I’ll test this” sort of things that is now somehow permanent.

Yeah, so somehow I threw all that together and it works. It’s messy, but it works. At first I thought it was not working. I’d turn it on, check it the next day and it would be “dead” but it would turn on again. Then at some point Dana gave me the box the lights came in and I realized it lights up for 8 hours and then turns off for 16 hours. So it was working just fine. After that I left it alone to do its thing. I did make sure I turned it on at 3:30pm in December so it would be running when it got dark out. They should stay lit until 11:30pm.

When I wrote “A solar project that actually works…” above it was mostly a joke. I thought it didn’t work, but it did work. Meanwhile I struggled with another solar project at the same time, which I now also have working. I didn’t want to say “My First Solar Project” because as a kid I connected a solar panel to a small fan I got from American Science and Surplus and was amazed it worked. (That was probably around 1981 or so…)

So yeah, I did this back in December but wanted to wait a bit to make sure it would keep working… and since it’s been two months I think it’s good. The panel gets some really nice direct sunlight in the afternoon and even with a bunch of cloudy gray days it’s kept running quite well.

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Gallery 69 – Tyler Tork

Hello and welcome to yet another installment of the highlighting of an artist whose work is featured in Gallery 69! Tyler Tork is actually a VIP in the world of Free Little Art Galleries as he runs the web site freelittleartgalleries.art, and that’s how I met him. I listed Gallery 69 there and then he got in touch with me saying he’d be passing through town and was interested in stopping by!

And he did, and he brought some art for the gallery! He also had books, and I bought a copy of The Goodnight Agency for my wife, who happens to enjoy and teach literature. Tyler also makes art and other interesting/strange things, so check that out as well.

Some of Tyler’s things are 3D printed, and I’m pretty sure you remember that I’ve been 3D printing things since around 2011 or so. The chain pulls and light switch plate are 3D printed! The earrings are from another book Tyler wrote titled “The Deep End”. (I also really like the “Sad Computer Guy” magnet.)

I had a bit of a hiatus curating the gallery in the past month due to some health issues, but I’ve also been making a lot of prints and just did a refresh of all new things! Tyler’s stuff is going in there today and I’ll be digging through the archives for more art and asking other artists I know to contribute in the new year so keep an eye on the gallery for more! I often posts photos of the gallery’s new stuff on Facebook, so go be my friend there maybe.

Oh! You can also find Tyler on Facebook and Instagram, so check those out!

Gallery 69 is a Free Little Art Gallery located on 69th street just north of Locust street in the Enderis Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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Free Little Art Gallery Library Shop

I’m going to warn you, I can be quite pedantic. I like refer to my Free Little Art Gallery as a “Free Little Art Gallery”. (There’s even a site for them at freelittleartgalleries.art.)

And yet, I have one friend who will not use the shortened name FLAG because I guess they were involved with some other thing called “FLAG” and had a bad experience or something… so they call it an Art Library.

Another friend does a little better, and calls it a Little Art Library. So close! It’s Free Little Art Gallery… You know, it’s Free, it’s Little (and the art is Little) and it’s a Gallery.

I guess if you are used to talking about a Little Free Library you might get tripped up saying Free Little Art Gallery.

When I was describing it to my daughter months ago I said “It’s a Little Free Art Gallery… an LFAG!” before I realized I switched the letters, and quickly figured out that it was FLAG not LFAG. (For obvious reasons!)

So here’s the thing… I really don’t care what you call it, as long as you come and see it and take some art! Yes, you know… take some art. Some people see something and say “Oh, I love that thing, but I don’t want to take it, because someone else might want it.”

Please. Take the art. That’s why it’s there. I made something and put it there, or a friend of mine (or someone I don’t even know) put art there because they want to share it with the world!

So if you want something grab it. If you see something that someone you know might like, grab it. If a friend has a birthday coming up, grab it, give it to them and say “I thought of you when I saw this, and thought you might like it!” You don’t even have to tell them it was free, or where you got it from. I mean, isn’t it awesome you’re sharing someone’s art with someone you know?

I was thinking about someone calling it an Art Library, and remembered that one of my neighbors mentioned he used to check out art from the local library. What? Yes! You can check out art from the public library, hang it in your house for a while, then return it when it’s due. The Free Little Art Library can work the same way. If you see something you like, grab it, take it home, and keep it for a while. You can always return it.

I rotate things out if they’ve been in the gallery too long and no one takes it. If it goes through a few rotations I may drop it off at one of the other FLAGs in the area. (Either 65th & Clarke in Wauwatosa or 87th & Locust in Milwaukee)

It’s a Free Little Art Gallery. The Gallery is Little. The Art is Little. The Art is Free. Come and get it!

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Gallery 69 – Brittany Farina

Brittany Farina is an illustrator who creates art for dog lovers. From pet portraits to stickers and magnets and even apparel. Brittany sent a bunch of packs for Gallery 69 that include a variety of stickers and magnets that show her style, and each includes a card so you can find her work online.

Speaking of her work, you can find it at brittanyfarina.com and if you prefer Facebook or Instagram she’s there as well. (Both are a steady stream of pet portraits which show her craft really well.)

Brittany also creates adult coloring books, and if you love dogs (and coloring!) it seems like that might be right up your alley.

She also does coloring books for rescue organizations to help raise funds so they can help more dogs. (I’m a cat-person myself, but I really so appreciate how much Brittany loves dogs and what she does for them and their owners.)

Okay dog lovers, what are you waiting for!? I’ve dropped a few of these stick & magnet packs into the gallery, so come and get them… and if you like what you see, get in touch with Brittany about more!

Gallery 69 is a Free Little Art Gallery located on 69th street just north of Locust street in the Enderis Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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Gallery 69 – Dave Polaschek

Right before I officially opened Gallery 69 I posted the following on Mastodon:

I’m opening a gallery this week. Sure, it’s in my front yard, and it can only handle small art… but the Free Little Art Gallery is (nearly) open!

Let me know if you want to contribute any art.

Woodworker Dave Polaschek said “What’s your address?” and I gave it to him and in no time he shipped a box of objects to me. It was the first to arrive, and I wanted to thank Dave (and congratulate him) for being the first one to send a package to the gallery. Cheers! So what was inside? Well, check the photos! Things from Dave’s woodshop. He also provided info on everything, so I’ll expand below.

The shot glass is birch from Timber Bay Lodge in Babbitt, Minnesota which was stabilized with black-dyed acrylic. (It might not be food-safe though, so don’t drink from it!) You can find more info about it on lumberjocks.com

While I’ve 3D printed a shot glass in the past I don’t think I’ve even seen a wooden shot glass. It’s pretty cool, and I hope someone takes it and appreciates it.

This bird (or “birb” as Dave called it) looks amazing. It was carved from juniper found in Dave’s back yard in New Mexico in September 2022. Hand-carving is one of those things I’m always fascinated by… My own skills lie elsewhere but I always appreciate a nice piece of wood shaped into something beautiful.

Again there’s a bit more info on Dave’s “birbs” on the lumberjocks.com site.

Finally there are two tops which were made in November 2021. One of them is pine and the other is a tropical hardwood (maybe granadillo). Both of them have been figited with in the shop and are a little dinged up. Dave suggested I add some paste wax to them (and I did) so they are nice objects but can also just functions as toys.

Thanks for reading this! You can check out more of Dave’s art at peekachello.art as well as write.as/davepolaschek

Gallery 69 is a Free Little Art Gallery located on 69th street just north of Locust street in the Enderis Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.