Free objects

The exchange of a light bulb is a necessary evil in normal fittings, because the bulbs do not last long. Since LED's last much longer, it is not anymore needed to support their replacement, so much more freedom in shaping a lamp is suddenly possible with them.

Sparks of light

A light bulb can only work with some efficiency if all the light emenates from a single point; a chandelier with 10x 10W for instance, will give much less light than a single 100W lamp, because the heat easily flows away from the lamps, making it necessary to spend more energy to keep the lamps on their glowing temperature.

LED's work differently. They don't glow, but turn electric energy directly into light. This makes it possible to combine lots of independent light points.

For an artist, this means that it is much easier to play with shapes than was ever possible with light bulbs. There is no dissipated heat, a LED is pleasantly small and so it is relatively simple to spread them over a larger area at will.

Colourful

Light bulbs are normally not coloured. They radiate white light, which might be filtered, but at a great loss of efficiency. For example, I once covered 3 small TL lights with red, green and blue filters to create a colourful shadow effect (in cyan, magenta and yellow). This was funny, but there was not enough light; each of the filters kept at least 2/3 of the light from ever reacing the room.

This too works differntly with LED's. You can get those little devices in a range of colours, and they only create that specific colour. So all electricity is still transformed into light, without anything being blocked by filters. You can see this clearly in red LED's with colourless transparant encasing.

Bright

There are special LED's intended for lighting. These are simply called "extra bright". Ask for it in an electronics shop and they will be glad to help you to them.

There are different shapes as well. One thing that may influence your artistic range of possibilities is the lense that is often integrated, because that determines the directions to which the light spreads. This too is an area with lots of options. Just enter an electronics hobby shop and inquire -- do not enter a shop that sells fridges and TV-sets, but one that tends to electronics as a hobby.

If you don't have a local electronics shop, look for online shops like Conrad or Farnell.

Dynamic

It is quite possible to steer LED's with electronics. If you think that flashing or moving lights could sell (which I doubt) you have another array of possibilities that opens up as soon as you partner up with an electronics hobbyist. Someone like that is always good to find if you enter this area, as they are experienced in issues you will encounter.

Cheap

Your potential customers can save money by switching to LED lighting, about 10 to 12 times less. This means it is not a bad idea for them to invest in a creative sculpture of light to replace an existing lighting fitting. This would actually make them celebrate LED-lighting, rather than switch to it for other reasons than being thrifty or puritanically green.

The nice part for an artist is that such a saving-yet-cheerful solution may be a bit costly because it will pay back for itself. Even if there are cheaper options such as a boring LED bulb, there still is a market where money can be made.

Anyone into buying new lamps (because a house is being decorated) would find it attractive to buy a special LED light instead of a standard fitting and bulb combo. The fittings for plain light bulbs are not cheap anyway, so this sets a base price level that can be earned.

Therefore, a market seems to exist for functional, pleasantly shaped objects that light our homes and offices with LED's. A market that can be much more appealing for artists to work on than the candle light market, which will always be a niche, because it tends to extra light points, not the primary ones.

Safety

A bulb-shaped LED light uses an internal circuit that is cheap but that would not be safe when the LED's are scattered over a design, unless care would be taken to isolate properly. Proper isolation might be achieved with a closed housing, but in most countries there would be rules that must be adhered, and perhaps certified.

An easy way out of this is to use a transformer and connect the LEDs to the low voltage that it generates. At these low voltages, it is extremely hard to do any damage at all, and so there are generally no (or fewer) rules to regulate your lamp design. So be sure to ask about transformers when you visit the hobby electronics shop.

You probably know transformers as the small blocks that hang onto a plug. The most energy efficient ones are the so-called "swithcing power supplies". Keep in mind that it is best to switch the power at the 220V-side (or 110V if you live in the USA) but in most situations this is taken care of by light switches.

Etching

Artists are generally used to etching techniques. This is required to make a circuit board, if you would choose to layout your LED's on one of those. To do this you would design the circuit as a graphical pattern, light a photo-sensitive layer with it and develop it in the same chemicals as are used to deplug your drains. Then etch with a biting acid until the copper layer underneath the now partially removed light-sensitive layer is gone.

This is a bit messy, and many things can go wrong. There are little companies that make circuit boards for you for small-scale production, and they are even willing to drill the boards properly. For larger scale, possibly even automated soldering of LEDs, you can find lots and lots of places willing to service you.