Softened Shadows

05/16/2025

✨ Shoutout time! ✨

We want to give a huge THANK YOU to the incredibly talented Ann Johnson-Stein of Softened Shadows for creating the stunning sign that lights up the Atomic Lounge...and honestly, lights up our hearts too. 💡❤️

Ann, you made the room come alive, and we couldn’t be more grateful. Your work brings warmth, vibe, and a whole lotta soul to the space where we all come to dance, drink, and celebrate the universal language of music.

Go show Ann some love and check out her beautiful work:
🌐 Website: https://www.annjohnson.art
📸 Instagram:
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/softenedshadows
🖼️ Digital art: https://www.digitalephemera.art

Support art. Support local artists. Get you some Softened Shadows! 💫

05/03/2025

Wanted to make a throwback post to properly document this sign project!

I made this last year for a friend's business in Springfield, IL.

Face details are in el-wire, the hair swoop is UV glass neon, the face panel is cnc'd white acrylic with a dichroic film applied.

04/30/2025

11/11/2024

Finally explored the dark art of LED fake neon! 😱😬

I got a kit because I was curious. Then serendipitously, someone appeared asking about making a small one.

This is a learner's piece. I'm always excited to learn new techniques.

This is NOT NEON and could never replace a proper neon sign! But it was fun to explore.

11/10/2024

This is the guts of the Eddie animated neon!

Neon flashers are often really large, heavy and expensive. They can be hard to find, and if they're mechanical, they can be limited in the patterns they create.

For Eddie, I wanted to make every letter blink separately and have a few different patterns.

I'm controlling individual transformers (1 for each letter) by switching their 120v power on and off. For this I used solid state relays controlled by an ESP32 microcontroller! The light patterns are made by coding different patterns into the controller, using C++ (I just used the Arduino IDE).

This means I can change the patterns by changing the code, and also potentially add in other controls, like buttons, k***s, maybe a remote.

I was getting some leakage current when the relays are switched "off" - I think I might need to switch up my hardware to something a little more robust.

But all in all, the ESP + relay board cost $26 and some time. With a power supply, maybe $45 in all. Way better than what a flasher would cost! Can't wait to experiment more 🤓

11/10/2024

My works for Noble Gas and Glass!

"EDDIE" is a commission piece for . Got a lot of progress on it now!

"The Eyeball" aka "Surveillance Capitalism" - now on display! Also available if interested :). The CCtv camera in the eyeball works!

Thank you so much for organizing and hosting !!!!

11/04/2024

This was my other showing for 's Art After Dark, the Luna Moth! I have shown her a couple other times, but I think the setting of the woods really made her come to life!

I am still so proud of this piece - I really took my time to try and make it as clean, polished, and light as possible, and very modular for easy set-up and break-down. I first showed it as a stage piece at Mississippi Underground, and the controller I used for this allows for live pixel control over an Ethernet connection, along with the standalone playback shown here (thanks !)

I love the contrast of the natural shape of the moth and the bright, hard shine of the pixels. This project was a joy to design, fabricate, and program, from start to finish.

📹 By 🙏