Lample II is finished - recycled art

Lample II is finished!

I love how it turned out...the barn wood, diamond willow and the recycled globe came together nicely. I finally had a use for 10 pieces of turquoise that I bought in New Mexico about 15 years ago. I bought them for a future project and really didn't think the future project would be 15 years down the road. But the turquoise matched the paint I used on the globe and fit nicely into the center of the diamonds in the willow trunks. I used glass amber nuggets in some of the diamonds, and left some of the diamonds unadorned.

I 'printed' leaves on the globe in turquoise and amber by painting on real leaves and them pressing them to the glass globe. The colors look nice individually and where they overlap , too. I bought a cut glass light bulb and that adds interest, too, when the light is turned on.

I debated on how best to finish the reclaimed wood and finally decided on Watco's Danish Oil. It seeps into the pores, so the wood is preserved, but doesn't add color or sheen, like varnish does, so the 'history' of the wood is retained. I love that!

My husband did an awesome job wiring the lample and putting the pieces together. It was fun to show the lamples at the Art and Wine Walk today - and fun to hear people's positive comments on them.

Red Lamp + Table = "Lample" is Finished!

It's finished! Our first "lample" is a bright, cheery apple red with white legs and trimmings. The lamp globle is painted with red stripes, yellow and blue spirals and dots. I think it looks cute and it is definitely unique! I'll be bringing it to show at the Art & Wine Walk downtown this Saturday. My art kids really like it and I hope it inspires them to some art inventions of their own! It is especially pleasing to me because this white globe was destined for the landfill and now has a bright, new life!

I continue to work on the second lample - the one with the diamond willow branch legs and barnwood top and shelf. It was disgusting work cleaning the barnwood of bird poop, spider webs, bugs and other accumulated dirt gathering for 100 years. I used a good brush and wore gloves, otherwise I couldn't quite get myself to touch it! Yuk! But it did clean up beautifully and Eric, my husband, has pieces cut and glued for the table top and shelf. I'll coat those with satin finish polyurethane so they'll withstand use.

I need to get outside to get 3 more willow branches stripped. I'll be using tung oil to finish those - I tried it on a small branch and like how rich it looks. Hopefully, this lample will be done for Saturday, too!