TOYMAKER TEAM

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.

Joel Pinkham

Master Toy Maker

One light. Everything it powers.

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.

If you perform

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.

If you shoot

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.

Designed in Oregon

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.

AOAM is what you'd call a “virtual business.” Most of our collaboration happens remotely, but the passion and care behind what we do is as real as it gets.

- 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.

THE POWER OF STAYING SMALL

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.

OUR TEAM

JOEL PINKHAM

Master Toy Maker

I lived the early years of my life in Michigan and Wisconsin. One of four boys, I was always entertained playing basketball or tending to livestock on our 40-acre hobby farm. Some of my fondest memories were with my scientist/inventor father. He taught us how to take apart washing machines and computers and build soap box derby cars and model rockets. In me, he instilled a yearning desire to create and explore. I now live in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range near Eugene, Oregon, with my Saint Bernard, Rukus. I enjoy going to music festivals, playing basketball, practicing yoga, building (anything), and exploring Oregon's vast natural beauties.

Chris Rey Gonzalez

Designer / Toy Maker

I was born and raised in rural Spain, where I spent most of my childhood enjoying the sunny weather and biking and exploring the countryside. From very early on, I was a curious and creative soul, and I used art as a vehicle to explore and understand the world around me. What art has taught me in a practical way is patience and how to look at things from different perspectives. That might be why I feel like such a good fit at AOAM since I am encouraged to put those skills to use and learn new ways to keep expanding my creativity. I'm looking forward to continuing to grow here so I can keep making fresh and cool toys!

MAIA FRIEDLANDER

MEDIA + COMMUNITY OUTREACH

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.

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