Helicopters. Whirlybirds. Whirligigs. No matter what you call them, samara keys, or simply samaras, are small, flat, and dry winged fruit that grow on trees like maples, ash, and elm.

Because of their wing shape, they spin through the air (auto-rotate) when they fall from the canopy, flying on the wind to reseed further from their parent tree.

When I was growing up, we had two purple hopseed bushes in our backyard. They were planted a few feet apart on a small berm. I spent countless hours playing with my Hot Wheels and green army men between those trees, hands in the dirt, head in the clouds, feet from my house but worlds away in my thoughts.

Like samara-bearing trees, hopseed bushes have papery winged fruits that float in the air as they’re dropped. Though similar in appearance, the fruit of a hopseed bush is structurally unique; its papery pods open to release the seeds inside, whereas true samara keys remain completely self-contained.

Either way, those reddish sky spinners of my childhood inspired a lifelong fascination with dreamy things that float on the wind. This series is my homage to those memories.

Each of the mobiles in this collection is truly one-of-a-kind. There is only one of each available, and when it sells, that design will be permanently retired from my studio.

Because this series is so small, I want to ensure these mobiles weave their way into as many different life stories as possible.

In this spirit, I kindly ask that collectors limit themselves to a single piece from this release.

Each mobile in this series has a very intentional palette—unique unto itself, but also designed to create a colorway coherency with the series as a whole.

If you’d like to customize colors, I encourage you to check out other mobiles in my shop.

Exactly that: a story. For the sake of readability, each of the mobiles in this series has a short title (i.e., the name of a tree that produces samaras). But its true name is a story found in the description.