ArtShades

Chocolate and Berry drum shade

Another commission completed, this time a drum shade for a standard lamp in lovely chocolate and berry colours.

 

This customer saw my work at an exhibition in Shropshire four years ago and filed away my brochure.  Earlier this year she made herself a standard lampbase and contacted me again to make her a shade to go with it.  We discussed colours to suit her room and she chose this design:

 

After all this time is still surprises me how much the colourway affects the design.

 

I really love this combination of colours (the shade is shown on a vintage mahogany lamp base, I hope it looks as good on my customer's new oak base).

 

I'll be working on a chocolate and green drum next.

 

Abstract Wall Shades

Wall shields are the shades I least enjoy making, mainly because they are small and fiddly to get right.  I don't mind the stitching and cutting of the panels,

 

(this design was chosen as the customer liked my card design 'Flourish').

it's the patience required to fit and hand-stitch each panel that is testing, as each hand-made frame is very slightly different.  I reached the point on my list of orders where I had to make a start on them.  A set of four for a dining room

 

and a pair for a bedroom.

 

It's great to have them finished and place a large tick beside them on the order list.  Onto large drum shades next.....

 

Innov8 - Contemporary Craft Fair 26 - 28 November

It is just two weeks until the Worcestershire Guild of Designer Craftsmen's Christmas Show.  We are returning to Number 8 - the community arts centre in Pershore this year and extending the show by a day.

Please join us for a glass of wine at our Preview evening Thursday 25 November between 7pm and 9pm.

We look forward to seeing you.

PS  For those with satnavs the postcode for the venue is WR10 1BG.

 

Green and Cream Lamp

Green has never been a favourite colour of mine (apart from in nature) and I don't think I have ever made a lampshade using just dark green and cream before.  Until now.

 

It's a commission, so the colours were chosen by the customer.

 

It's my Spots and Stripes design and I think it works surprisingly well in this colourway.  It is simple and bold and complements the bespoke Alex Wilkins' base, which has been made 6" shorter than usual.

 
 
 There is something rather appealing about it, although I can think of other colours I'd rather use!

Shades of Devon

The latest batch of map drum shades to be delivered has featured the delights of Devon, commissioned by men this time.

The first pair represent the customer's entire life - incorporating all the places he has ever lived.  For these I sourced the map - a 1960 cloth Ordnance Survey map of Barnstaple.

 

The edges are bound in paper to match the stitched vertical stripes.

 

The customer has just sent me a lovely email telling me how pleased he is and attached some photos to show them on his own bases.  I love them!

 

The second pair was ordered to remind a local customer of happy holidays spent in Devon, they're made from vintage cloth-backed Bartholomew's map (left) and Ordnance Survey map (right), supplied by him.  The tallest is 20" high x 9" diameter.

  

It is impossible to flatten out the folds of decades old linen-backed maps, but it can add to the lampshade's charm.

I'll be working with local maps again next week, before moving on to Cornwall!