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"Tiki Lamp"
| This lamp came from the coinciding of several different streams
of thought. For some time I had wanted to build a lamp for my
bedside table. My usual way of working is to be quietly working
in my head on several ideas simultaneously, so I continued to work on
other projects but kept the need for a lamp in the back of my
mind. One summer I took a sailing cruise in the Virgin Islands,
one of those vacations where you help hoist the sails and
generally pretend you know what you're doing. I wanted to
commemorate this trip but didn't know how. Then a couple of
years later I was walking through a flea market and discovered
the Tiki that would become the base for the lamp. Originally the
Tiki was made to hold long fireplace matches. It was hollow and
easily converted to a lamp base by adding a pipe, wire, light
socket and harp. I filled the remaining space with sand to give
it additional weight. With the last piece of the puzzle in place, I began to design
the lamp. I had done a number of curved lamps before, but with
the square nature of the base I decided that a panel lamp would
be more appropriate. I did some experimenting with stiff
cardboard to find the right size shade for the base I had
chosen, then I used the Glass Eye 2000 "Lamp Wizard" to design
the four different views for the six panel lamp. It's important
that all the panels be the same size, and the wizard would make
sure that they were. I set the wizard for six panels with a
height of 9", a bottom diameter of 14" and a top diameter of
3½". The wizard then automatically gave me the outside shape of
the panels. Using snapshots from my sailing trip and the
background feature of the software I traced the basic patterns I
needed. After simplifying the design and using the Suggest
feature to correct difficulties, I was ready
to cut my glass. I began with the simplest of the designs, the
one that repeats. Once I finished the first panel I realized
that I had a design problem. Originally the repeating panel did
not include the large rock on the right. I had created a hinge,
a line going across the entire panel, a weak spot that would
easily separate from the rest of the lamp. Glass Eye 2000
made it easy to change the design and eliminate the weak
element. Returning to Glass Eye 2000 I was quickly able to add
the rock on the right.
I like to work with small, "impossible" pieces. I used paint
for the face, but everything else is with glass and copper foil.
The lead lines give me the detail in the ship's planks and in
the rigging. I considered doing the main mast simply by using a
wider foil, but decided to use a separate narrow piece of glass.
Once all six panels were finished it was a simple matter to join
them together by placing them face down on my workbench, using
masking tape to join them together and then lifting the whole
assembly and joining the last two ends before soldering both
inside and out. The final steps were to add the lamp cap, patina
and put onto the electrified base.
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~ Richard Wandel
About the artist
Richard Wandel began stained glass work about ten years ago,
learning the craft through videos, books and experimentation.
One of his earliest projects was a 300-piece lampshade. Some
would feel that it was a project which shouldn't be attempted so
early on, but he has always felt that in order to do good work
you must do work that interests you. He continues to
make lamps, as well as boxes and panels, mostly for himself and
family, but he has also done a number of commissions. Although
he doesn't do any advertising or marketing, he is always ready
to show pictures of his work to whomever will look. Richard can
be reached by
email and is a regular visitor to the
Glass Eye 2000
discussion group.
Download Tiki Lamp
in Glass Eye 2000 format |
|
This pattern
may be used to make one or more artworks for sale or personal
enjoyment. The pattern may be printed for personal use
only and may not be sold or given away in printed or electronic
form. |
see the previous month's
design
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