Meet Ted Bradley | Light Sculptor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ted Bradley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ted, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I was young I was passionate about art and mechanical engineering, but after college I worked in software for a decade. I arrived in my mid-thirties and asked myself, “What do I want to do with the next ten years of my life?” Everything was set up for me to continue my career in software. There was momentum behind it, hard-earned experience, and financial opportunity. But it wasn’t where my heart was. I wanted to believe that I could do all the things I love the most – design, engineering, inventing, sculpture, business – in one job. That’s what I do now – this is my dream job.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Ceramics was the first thing I knew I was passionate about, but I never considered it being a professional. Six year ago I started having visions of sculptures I wanted to build. I’d wake up in the middle of the night and the sketches would pour out of me. Eventually I came to a fork in the road in my career and decided to make a big shift. We only get one shot at this life – I thought maybe it’s time for me to let go of the things I think I’m supposed to do, and start doing the things I want to do.

I decided the best place to start would be to build a light sculpture that had felt particularly meaningful to me. It had white rings affixed to a metal spine, like the arcing ribs of a whale skeleton bleached in the sun. The sculpture has a tension between the grace and fragility of the white rings, and the strength and rigidity of the metal spine. When I first started building it, I had two master mold makers and a clay chemist tell me that what I was trying to do would be very difficult or impossible. I was attempting to turn formless clay, essentially wet mud, into a geometrically perfect circle that can be married to precision metal and LED components within a few hundredths of an inch. I researched and tested dozens of techniques, had over 200 failed rings and worked by hand through 1,300 pounds of clay over a period of more than 12 months to create the world’s first set of porcelain light rings. Each ring takes 5 weeks and several hundred steps to make. The result is visually stunning, one-of-a-kind light sculptures that are unlike anything else.

We now have more than 40 sculpture designs all made with our porcelain light rings. There’s truly nothing else like them. The sculptures are handmade in Boulder, Colorado by myself and my team of two other artisans.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Ha well a good friend did recently visit and I took him on a tour that I thought he’d really enjoy. Our first activity was taking him up the 1st/2nd flatiron trail in Boulder. It was mid winter and the snow gets packed down so it turns into an iced bobsled course. I think he probably fell a dozen times. I did too. He’s from Florida – it was out of his element to say the least. So I can definitely recommend hiking in the flatirons, but maybe not in the winter.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Definitely. There have been dozens of people along the way who have been helpful and supportive, including friends and family. But right now I want to give a shoutout to my friends who are investing in my company. Starting a business is hard and expensive. I’m feeling really grateful for their commitment and support.

Website: https://www.tedbradleystudio.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedbradley.studio/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tedbradleybe/

Image Credits
Daniel Villarreal
Marco Ricca
Andrea Carson
Joel Reis