Lamps
My Dining table lamp is derivative of a pair of wall sconces that I was making in a similar fashion. It occurred to me that it might be a nice look to take the two "webbings" and put them together as a hung version. The madrone webbing was very easy to form. The properties of the wood make it very malleable, and so shaping the webbing involved soaking the wood, and then forcing it to arches within the madrone frame. I wanted a randomness to the pieces, something that would resemble a weaving. The madrone frame is built off of a template the I created for faster reproduction capabilities for future pieces. There is a groove routed on the upper interior for receiving and holding the webbing. The four joints are bridal joints. I like this method, however for more quickly reproduced versions, I think that this joint could be eliminated and very little would be taken away from the light on a whole. The finish is shellac. The diffusion material on the bottom section of the lamp is a combination of two different types of photography/film lighting diffusion. The first layer is a "spun" that adds texture to the light, and the second is a 1/4 white transfusion. These are fire resistant, and only melt under direct flame. I employed pine wood veneers with a very nice straight grain for the top half of the lamp. The grain lines add a dramatic element to the light, and the veneers don't touch the webbing at every intersection, giving an effect of being contained within the webbing as a whole other entity. Once the lamp was completed, I worked on finding the right hardware to match the overall feel of the lamp. I kept seeing the light, in my mind, on a yacht and so was inspired to head in a nautical direction with the hardware. I bought all brass and bronze eye bolts, and turnbuckles from marine supply stores, and then put a light patina on the hardware. I tried to find a manila rope that was thin enough to not look ridiculous holding a small hanging lamp, and eventually landed on 3mm natural hemp. The knots are nooses. I've used 4, 60 watt LED bulbs. They give no heat, are the most efficient option, and they will last well over ten years or longer. They are dimmable with a specific dimmer switch, also provided. This piece was a real pleasure to work on. It held my attention through the whole process, and I'm anxious to keep working on the design and trying new shapes, scales, mass production techniques, and materials