July 9, 2009

Wirework Lampshade


Okay - stay with me......  I purchased a victorian style floor lamp without the original glass shade.  The floor lamp has wonderful jade and chartreuse glass combined with the gold toned ornate metal filigree.  I loved it, but I've had the lamp for almost a year and still had no solution for a lampshade that I thought would work with the style of the lamp.  I had considered a custom stained glass shade, a jadite bowl with a hole drilled in the bottom to allow for the wiring, but none of these solutions seemed just right. 

I have been mulling over the idea of soldered glass charms that I want to make and how or where I would hang them and it occurred to me that I could sculpt a botanical flower shape that would allow me to hang the charms that would sparkle nicely at night.

I shaped the flower shape - I was going for a fuschia shape - around two mixing bowls taped together.  This gave me the rounded shape I was after and then I started adding the additional wires vertically and horizontally.
This is the simple shape I started with before wiring more support wires around the top and the sides.

This is the bottom of the lampshade with petals of shaped metal that I hammered flat for extra strength.

This is the finished flower shape lampshade ready for soldered charms.  I added petals around the top and I think once the charms and faceted glass beads are added it will be sensational.

2 comments:

Lee Weber said...

Oh Julie- so very clever and fun!! I love it. Great way of thinking outside the box. xoxo

Karen from A`Musements said...

I think "Sensational" is RIGHT! How fun, whimsical and.... perfect!Isn't wire the bomb?!
xoxo
Karen