Braille Pins

This series of pins was inspired by the sensory garden at Lake Merritt, Oakland, where a circular little pathway leads you past a waist-high, winding stone wall and beds of aromatic herbs and plants. I don't know if you're supposed to or not, but I always pinch a little leaf here and there and smell my way around the garden. Originally the stone walls sported little brass plaques on top with Braille signage, offering the names of the plants. Alas, in a revamped version of the garden, the Braille signs no longer exist.

"Aha"

"Eat"

"Frog" One

"Frog" Two

"Rice"

Materials include tin can lids, scraps of metal, old jewelry pieces, flip top tabs, and a watch casing (for "rice"). I am aware of the irony here—a blind person wouldn't be able to see the pin you are wearing so they wouldn't know they could read it. If they did, they'd probably damage their fingers; the Braille dots were punched into the metal with a nail and the result is a little sharp. But the idea was nice.