My least favorite thing about winter is the darkness. I particularly hate leaving work in the dark and returning home to a pitch-black apartment.

To make up for the sun's winter vacation, I made a lamp to mirror its rhythms and provide warmth when the sun won't.
The lamp checks the current date, pulls the local sunset time, and slowly ramps up brightness over the course of the evening until it's at full brightness once it's dark out. The same process runs in reverse each morning.

The backlit outer ring is made up of 16 pieces of carefully cut wood, all oriented with the grain pointing outward like solar flares. A warm, glossy finish reflects the lamp's glow.
All the electronics are housed within the bulb and mounted to the wall with a custom 3D printed mount.

This project was a doozy and I’m very proud of the results!