Hand made papers lighting up vintage lamps.

Recently I had an artist, Dana Curtis approach me with her hand made papers. They are reminiscent to the style of Jackson Pollock with her own twist of color and texture.

I fell in love with these and put them together with some of my vintage lamp collection.

We spent some time picking out lamps and talking about colors.  The results are pictured above.

Thrilled how they came out, hope you enjoy them just as much as I do. To see them all visit my online shop.

I will be added more of Dana’s work to my lamps, so check back often.

Nothing Better than a Good Scrap Yard, Part 3

The scrap yard, as you know is one of my favorite destinations when I travel. This pair of lamps I have pictured are from a wonderful piece of 19th century fencing with a great silver paint. So, off to the welders they went.

When I got them back from him, I was searching for a great paper to pair them with.  As I was looking through my vintage papers, I came across a stack of Topography Maps, dating 1905 that I had purchased years ago.  To make it even better, I had some from areas near to where I am located.  Saugerties, Ulster and Catskill are some of the towns that are on these maps.

I wonder, these fence pieces came from upstate New York, could they have come from one of the towns that I have pictured.

Check out Good Scrap Yard Part 1 & Part 2 to see what other fabulous finds I created into to lamps.  I seem to be drawn to orange as a color to include for the shade making, the rust pairs so nicely with that color.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Susan

A project with Eddie Ross

I am very fortunate to live in a small town, Millerton, NY 100 miles north of New York City,  also to have a great neighbor and friend, Eddie Ross and his partner Jaithan Kochar.  Eddie called one day saying he had found an amazing 19th century apothecary jar and would like to have it made into a lamp.  I so love to get interesting pieces to make into lamps.  Most days I look at just about anything for a lamp, a bottle, carved table leg. old pieces of metal in any form.  I get so excited when I get these type of projects, Eddie had the same enthusiasm about it.

Once the lamp is done, we were only half way there.  The next part is the shade, picking the right shape and material to accent the lamp.  Eddie wanted a barrel shaped shade, I suggested we use a wonderful seagrass paper to offset the sleek glass. Visit Eddie’s blog to read all about this great project.

I hope this inspires you to look at every day objects, treasures you find and family heirlooms  in a whole new way.  The simple gracefulness of this bottle will be enjoyed for years and surely make Eddie and Jaithan smile.

Pumpkins are everywhere this time of year

The potters of the Mid 19th century experimented in the most amazing shapes and glazes.

Lucky for us so many examples survived the changing times.

I wonder what the artist’s of that time would think of how I transform them.

I could not resist this pair,  perfect for this time of year. There shape, chunky and round,

just like the pumpkins we have been decorating our homes with.

I paired them with a great paper made with leaves running throughout.

Bring a bit of nature indoors to make you smile.

Nothing Better than a Good Scrap Yard, Part 2

This summer I was on a hunting trip in upstate New York, stumbled on a great organized junk/scrap yard.  There was a section for everything.  I could not contain myself, all I thought was how I was going to get all of my treasures home.  There was a 19th century iron garden gate, I love these.  They have a history, I use my imagination to wonder who were the people who walked through the gate.  The center pieces was the only thing left to salvage, the iron scroll work was beautiful.

On my way home I stopped at my welders and dropped them off.  These are the lamps, vintage industrial with style.

The fun part about what I do, is I get to find incredible hand made papers form all over the world new and old to make lampshades for the lamps that get created from my hunting trips.  This paper I found this spring in New York.  The paper is a light version of Kraft paper with scrolls of espresso and bronzes screened on it. A perfect match for these lamps.

If you are in the area stop by to see works in progress or visit my online shop.

Have a great weekend.

Susan

Dorothy Draper would have loved these.

These fabulous ginger jar shaped lamps, with gesso flowers came right from the Dorothy Draper era. They are classical and funky wrapped into one. The tone on tone feeling is soothing.  I have found quite a few examples of gesso decorated lamp bases lately.  This is the first of a series that I will be doing this fall.  The gesso is normally white, but I have found a few lamp bases that the gesso has been colored. The imagination of the artists back then are amazing.  Someone must have filled a pastry bag with gesso and decorated the lamp bases just like a wedding cake.

I topped them off with a great pair of cream colored sea grass hexagon lampshades.  Bringing a twist to these bases.  The sea grass has the wonderful warm tones of the lamps.  These lamps would be a welcome addition to any home.

If you are in the area stop by and see or visit my online store.

Enjoy,

Susan

Sleek, modern, simple and elegant.

I could not think of just one description for these lamps, so sleek, modern, simple and elegant it is.

A wonderful source I have that makes wood veneer pliable and sturdy for lampshades. Cherry wood is my favorite, the glow is so beautiful, amazing that it is real wood.

I was making a large pair of square shades, cutting the cherry wood from the sheets I get and there was scrap pieces left.  I just cannot toss scrap of any kind, you never know what I can make with them.  Then I was cutting a pair of tall slender lampshades for a customer and the pattern fit the cherry wood scrap perfectly.

If you are in the area stop by and see what I have created with the scraps I save or visit my online store.

Nothing better than a good scrap yard.

Scrap yards, junk yards, the dump (some people call it the transfer station, so it sounds better), are great places. I have been a recycling for years.  People throw away wonderful pieces of metal. The more industrial the better,  I have a true love affair for it.  Old fence pieces, iron findings, scrap metal, you never know what treasure is waiting to be made into a lamp.

Here is my problem, I guess not such a bad one, but I have lots of scrap metal parts and the hardest part of this is which one will be picked next.  I am very grateful, that I have a welder that get’s me. He does not even flinch anymore, but in the beginning of our relationship, he rolled his eyes at me constantly. He is a true genius.

I call the lamps I create, Shandell’s version of Steampunk.  A little industrial, mixed with style.  The pair I have pictured here are made from cast iron andiron’s, from the 19th century. They have a look of a gentleman’s  Handelbar Moustache.   The orange parchment shades, brings out the color of the iron.

I have just started going through my pile, pieces have been sent to get welded and come back to be transformed.

If you are in the area stop by to see works in progress or visit my online shop.

Have a great weekend.

Susan

Mid Century Pink & Green

Lately I have been a daily reader of Retro Renovation, a great blog dedicated to mid century home life. Recently I was looking through my drawers of vintage wallpaper that is prepped for lampshades and found this wonderful sea foam green paper, with leaves and Greek key pattern running through it. I was inspired to make a shade for this wonderful mid century pink Italian lamp I had on my shelves. The lamp is a soft pink with gold accents. How perfect these look together.

Looking around my studio I found that I do have quite a bit of mid century, my subconscious must have a thing for it.  Clean lines and tons of history.  I have pulled out a couple more projects that I will be working on in the next couple of weeks. I have found lots of wallpaper of this time period and each a little different waiting for there perfect lamp. Check back to see my journay recreating my treasures from the past into something you smile about today.

Bring the Ocean Indoors

I do not get to the ocean much any more, July 4th weekend was always an ocean trip when I was a kid.  My Mom loves the beach, there is something about the healing qualities of the ocean.

The way walking along the beach and listening to the waves seems to lower ones heart rate.  When I do get a chance to go, one of my favorite things to do is collect shells. There are so many different types, in the 19th century they were documented in amazing detail.

I have put together a group of seashell inspired hand made  items for the home, a lamp, tissue box, night light and a box of matches so no matter where you live, the ocean can be with you.  If you have a friend in need of a ocean fix, one of these will surely make them smile.

Have a safe and happy 4th.

Next Page »