Auroran makes mobiles from old CDs

Aurora resident Joe Hornyan is an artist of sorts, although he is quick to downplay the objects he makes as "junk art."

Hornyan, an 83-year-old widower who has lived most of his life in Aurora, makes movable mobiles out of colored compact discs. "I put them together, hang them in the window and they make pretty colors," he said. "They make reflections on the walls, like a discotheque."

Hornyan said he wouldn't call the mobiles "crafts," or even "art." "It's just something to do; it's relaxing," he said.

To make the mobiles, Hornyan uses two CDs; one is colored, one is plain silver. He binds the two together and then hangs them from old weathervanes.

Hornyan said he doesn't sell the mobiles but has given them away to family members as gifts.

Each mobile is a different size. He made one with nine double CDs, and another mobile he made was 30-square-inches. He likes to hang them near windows so the wind can make them turn and cast colors throughout his home, or near mirrors so they make reflections upon reflections upon reflections.

Problem is, Hornyan said, he can't find colored CDs anymore. He said he can find colored CD cases, but can't seem to find the actual colored CDs anywhere. He said he's tried to contact the makers of the colored CDs, but to no avail.

"I'm running out of CDs," he said. But that probably won't stop him from making the mobiles. "I like to keep busy," he said.