I built this large wall-mounted rolling ball sculpture for my local donut shop, Susie Q’s Donuts, after they moved into a new location. Since I was already a regular customer, I thought their new space needed a kinetic sculpture of its own. The finished piece measures 5 feet wide, 3 feet high and 12 inches deep, with four separate tracks.

The first track features a loop-d-loop with nine inversions—the maximum I use—with the marble’s backspin helping slow it as it exits. Another track travels through a tall, narrow spiral that splits into two sections, followed by flat track and a second spiral before returning toward the collection plate.

The third track was inspired by a toy I made for my granddaughter, Ellie: an enclosed figure-eight track she could play with without losing the balls. That idea became the tall S-shaped element on the right side of the sculpture.

The fourth track begins with several large dips before the marbles are collected by a tipping arm. Once released, they travel through many feet of track, another tipping arm (complete with eyes), a flat spiral, several S-curves and a spinning-arm element.

All four tracks eventually converge on the flat collection plate at the bottom, where the marbles merge onto a single return track leading back to the chain lift.