Designing physical pieces and building them allows me a different outlet for expressing my creativity.
Designing and creating this series of hand-made custom lights has been one of the most enjoyable projects I have taken on, and provided many challenges that I do not face with graphic design projects.
Combining both form and function creatively, I produced these unique and usable art pieces.
To create my designs I used found items such as gears, sprockets, flywheels, faucet fixtures and tin cans, along with sourced materials such as copper pipes and fittings, nuts and bolts, rivets, grommets, needle bearings, electrical components, wires, paint, linen and a whole lot of solder.
Each piece not only has a unique style and design, but also has real functionality.
One piece uses a faucet fixture as the dimmer switch and has hand made linen shade panels.
Another has a separate adjustable reading lamp made from a tin can that swivels over 180 degrees on needle bearings. This piece also incorporates a dimmer switch and two USB charging ports into a plumbing fixture.
Another tilts a full 90 degrees and has a glass lamp shade that swivels in unison, with all joints riding on needle bearings.
Once I concept a build, I determine what the best approach is to build the design and what particular pieces would achieve the desired outcome.
I then fabricate all the individual pieces making a complex puzzle of parts. I then construct and wire all the components. I found a heavy linen for the shades that fits the antique feel I was going for. Using extreme heat on the copper produces rich dark red and brown bronze features, producing a unique antique finish.
