Wild Gears
I started making these to keep dexterity in my hands after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s. The gears gave me something steady to hold, something that required patience and small control. At first most of them were messy or awkward, but every so often one would come out with a kind of rhythm that felt right. I began saving those.
Over time the good ones outnumbered the bad. What began as practice turned into something I looked forward to. The motion itself still helps — the repetition, the slow tracing of circles — but I’ve come to like what they leave behind too. Each one feels like a quiet record of steadiness, a trace of attention made visible.
What are Wild Gears?
Wild Gears are precision-cut acrylic drawing tools based on the old Spirograph concept, but redesigned for adults who love geometry, pattern, and repetition. Each gear has a different set of holes and ratios, which means every combination produces its own rhythm of lines.
The system works by nesting gears inside or around one another and moving a pen through the holes as they roll. What comes out is both mechanical and organic — a trace of motion, perfectly smooth but entirely handmade.
I use fine-line colored markers on smooth white paper. Most of these drawings are made in a single sitting, without correction. The process is steady and physical — part drawing, part meditation — and for me it also helps maintain dexterity in my hands.
You can learn more about the tools at wildgears.com, where the creator, Aaron Bleackley, shares sets, examples, and the math behind how they work.
Color Harmonics
Single-system drawings where color creates vibration.
When two or more hues follow nearly the same path, the eye begins to see motion that isn’t there. The overlapping lines create interference — a shimmer or pulse that changes as you look. These pieces are about resonance, about how small shifts can make still forms feel alive.
no images were found
Compound Series
Made from multiple gear systems working together.
These drawings build on interaction — different centers, radii, and rhythms nested within one another until they find equilibrium. Some are layered intentionally; others collide by chance. What interests me is how separate systems can coexist and still hold a unified shape, as if they’re negotiating space together.
no images were found
Found Geometry
Single-system drawings with open structure and clear negative space.
These are the simplest forms: one gear, one rhythm, one path of movement. They remind me that geometry doesn’t need elaboration to be beautiful. Everything is right there in the proportion and balance, in how the pattern breathes against the page.
no images were found
organic-mechanism
Built from repeated passes that accumulate into density and texture.
These begin in the same precise motion as the others, but over time they drift — thickening, weaving, sometimes collapsing inward. What starts as mechanical becomes biological. The forms feel grown rather than constructed, like structures that learned to build themselves.
no images were found
Asymmetry
Tests, trials, and incomplete passes.
These pages record the moments before precision sets in — the experiments where alignment fails or lines wander off course. I keep them because they show the gesture of the hand. The human part.
no images were found
Index
Indices: Where I put a bunch of smaller simple spirals onto a single page.
no images were found