One light. Everything it powers.
Light tools for flow artists and light painters, all built around one light: the RGB Critter BT.
Joel Pinkham, Master Toy Maker
Hey, I’m Joel Pinkham, the Master Toymaker and founder of Ants on a Melon, or AOAM for short. I started the company back in 2012 here in Springfield, Oregon, with the goal of creating light toys that would spark creativity and connection for performers, flow artists, light painters, and dreamers all over the world.
Ants on a Melon has spent 14+ years building light tools for two crowds who almost never talk to each other: flow artists who dance with light, and light painters who photograph it. Somewhere along the way we noticed both crowds had the same problem. Every prop wanted to be its own gadget, with its own battery, its own charger, its own controls to relearn, and its own price tag to justify.
So we built the whole catalog around one light instead. The RGB Critter BT is a programmable light that twists into everything we make: fiber optic whips, sabers, staffs, light painting blades, ambient tools, and 200+ twist-on accessories. Buy the light once. After that you are just collecting tools.
Your whip tonight is your saber next weekend. Spare 18650 batteries ride in your pocket and swap in seconds, so a dead battery never ends your night. And when fibers wear out (they are the part that hits the ground a thousand times a night), you replace a head for around $30 instead of replacing the whip.
One light means one set of controls across every tool in your bag. Dial in a color from 16.7 million, set one of 100 brightness levels, save it as a preset on the light itself, and get the same output frame after frame, shoot after shoot. Photofocus rates the Critter BT 5/5, Editor’s Choice.
Every product is designed in Oregon, USA, backed by a 2-year warranty on the light and real humans on support. One light. Everything it powers.
These days, it’s still a small, hands-on team. My friend Toymaker Chris has been working with me since 2022. He and I handle the day-to-day, answering emails, packing orders, and keeping everything running smoothly. Together, we also design all of our products, the website, and our mobile apps. Once we finalize a design, I work closely with our global network of contract engineers, from places like Kathmandu and Indonesia, to bring each product to life.
We’re also lucky to have Maia on the team. She’s our Community Outreach Manager and Content Creator, and she’s been working with me since 2017. Maia manages our social media, connects with the flow arts and festival community, and helps create content and demo videos. She’s also a super talented costume designer and performer, and a huge part of what makes AOAM shine creatively.
- joel pinkham, master toy maker
Chris (left) and Joel (right) standing in front of the original whiteboard sketches for the Ants on a Melon app design.
To be honest, I used to think having such a small team might be a limitation. It sometimes felt like we had to work extra hard to keep up with bigger companies. But over time, I’ve come to see the value in it. Being small means we stay closely connected to our community. We can respond personally, focus on the details, and make sure everything we send out reflects the creativity and care that inspired AOAM in the first place.
We don’t have outside investors, which allows us to grow at our own pace and make decisions that feel right for the company and our community. We focus on quality, creativity, and staying true to our vision, rather than chasing fast growth. For us, staying small and intentional helps us keep the process fun, flexible, and full of meaning.
Joel (left), friend Dave (center), and brother Ben (right) vending at Oregon Country Fair.
Shop the light
Every prop we make runs off this one light engine.
I grew up under the starlight of rural Ontario, Canada, before moving to the big city: Toronto. I studied Visual Arts and Illustration at Sheridan College with the ultimate objective of apprenticeship in tattooing. Unfortunately, I sustained a serious neck injury that forced me to change my entire direction but found myself once again in the creative world of design, making custom props for theatre and film.
While struggling with my injury, I discovered dancing with a fiber optic whip called the Orbit BitWhip and immediately incorporated it as part of my healing and physiotherapy. Not long after that, I had the opportunity to extol my passion for AOAM more prominently when Joel Pinkham and I connected. Ultimately, I became the AOAM communications and media manager, connecting AOAM to the broadest ranges of the flow arts community.
When not chatting with all of you creative souls through our online platforms, I’m off traveling and engaging in all sorts of LED and fire performances. Or you can also find me hidden in my laboratory, making new LED costume designs to incorporate the latest and greatest AOAM products.
I grew up in Harbin, China, which everyone calls the Ice City. It looks the part: Russian Revival and Stalinist buildings, and a winter that sits around -20°F for five or six months a year. That builds character. I studied architecture, then worked in architecture design, construction and teaching, plus a few random jobs along the way, before I found AOAM (on Indeed, of all places).
Here I'm hands-on with almost everything we make: building RGB Critter flashlights from start to finish, making sabers, running the laser, making parts, packaging products and packing orders. Packing orders is a funny thing to call a favorite, but honestly I enjoy everything I do here.
On my own time I'm building my portfolio site and writing interactive stories. Outside of work you'll find me playing piano, walking the beach, hunting for new hot springs, reading, or at a concert. One fun fact about me? Nihilism.
Keep reading
The Story Behind AOAM
How a fiber optic umbrella named Simrat turned into a company.
Read the story
The Story of Our Name
A riverbed, a rock dropped three times, and a melon full of ants.
Read the story
How It’s Made
From copper pipe fittings and a small metal lathe to the RGB Critter.
Read the story
Light up the night.
Be the one they remember
Light + twist-on fiber whip, 140 to 300 fibers
10 tools in the box, light included
2 lights, 2 whips and a connector
Light + wearable fibers, 6 to 12 ft
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