I’m working on 4 of these lamps. Here is a picture of the base.
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Replies
What lamps?
Finished one of them today, this one is made of Bubinga.
Very nice work on the lamp. Much of Wright's work has "transported" me when I've seen it. His light screens, for example. It's like a window in time. Brings you in contact with a certain sensibility. Kind of hard to explain, really.
Just please, oh, please don't build one of his awful, dysfunctional chairs.
That is a great project. Very nice job.
Nice lamp !
aaaaaaah B U B I N G A ! ! !
I read the thread title as " Wright brothers tail spin lamp ". I think I need to go to sleep soon. Just one more cup of coffee and then it's off to dream land.
Hey that unicorn wasn't here a minute ago.
nice work, but . . .
You did a nice job on the lamp, Hobbick. But, I have to admit that this particular FLW design is probably my least favorite of his work. It looks really interesting, but falls short in functionality as a small lamp, IMHO, due to the strange directionality of the lighting produced.
I doubt that you've actually lived with a lamp like this. I works really good.
Hobbick,
So what does your significant other think of the lamp?
I know what mine would say if I made such a lamp and asked her where she would like to put it.
If she were in a real good mood, and had had a good night's sleep, she would say something almost nice, such as "Darling, I know you had fun making this lamp, and I know thatt FLW had a high opinion of himself, but I would rather have a Stiffel lamp."
That's what is nice about woodworking - we are all enlightened by different muses. We can share the enjoyment that each other feels in making the things that inspire them, even if our muses come from a different universe. For example, I greatly admire the woodworking artist, David Savage, his ultra modern style is not to my taste. I greatly admire his ability to design new designs, and to find people willing to pay from ten to thirty thousand dollars apiece for each of them. I admire his skill in executing designs that make Chippendale designs seem simple to construct. I look forward to his monthly newsletter, but I apply his wisdom to getting better at the things I like to do. Actually, as I grow older, I make more things that my wife likes. The rewards are enormous. :-)
I visited Taliesen, and enjoyed the tour. I greatly admire FLW's willingness to throw the establishment aside and to develop and do his own thing, I find that I can't put aside the feeling that the man was a pompous boor who didn't treat others well. When I see his work, I think of his personality, and am glad he wasn't my Dad.
I wish you the greatest happiness in your woodwork. Follow your muse, even if it leads you to Taliesen. I know that others have liked his work too. Besides, there are those who say that my taste is in my mouth. :-)
Have fun. Keep on making masterpieces.
Mel
FLW---
Mel, I tend agree with you about FLW, but I guess I find it easier to put my judgements about him as a person and my judgement about his work in different 'boxes.' I find his work interesting and exciting. Few if anyone working today has the ability to design the entire project like he did (and not many in his time). The complete intergration of the interiors with the exteriors and all the finishes right down to the fabric on the chair seats is amazing. FLW design vision was a complete one and the sheer size of the vision is inspiring. The trick that Hobbick will have to solve is how to fit a piece of FLW into a none FLW space.
By the way, the job on the lamp is great. It is a form that does not allow for any mistakes and you (Hobbick) have done a great job.
Dan,
You are right, Hobbick did a great job in making the lamp. My problem, and it is MY problem, is that I like to have pieces made by people I like (but only good pieces of course). They remind me of the maker. Who knows, maybe someday I'll have a piece by Ray. That would be cool. A piece by Richard Jones would be nice. Although different styles, I'd have them right there in the same room. Of course, I will have to come across some real money before I can afford that. :-) Maybe I'll become a lawyer.
Have fun,
Mel
Out of context
There's no real trick to taking something good and placing it with other things from different periods. Most have no problem taking a shaker chair and desk and setting it inside a glass and steel condo unit. Many build craftsman furniture and live inside ramblers. So why wouldn't the lamps fit well as a china urn or a Stickly rocker.
You are right to separate the man from the work. Frank L Wrights work is so above most others that what you think of his personality is almost beside the point. He lived and practiced a long, long time. It came as a shock to me when I realized that at the age my father was retiring, he was starting again, bankrupt, in a falling down school he designed for his aunts in Spring Green. I think many of the stories we hear about Frank are from the time he was an old man, who having accomplished much, no longer cared about trivial things. Yes he was a crank, a colorful character, but a very talented one.
I think we forget his early contemporaties were Voysey, Lutyens, Mackintosh, and the Green Brothers. Seen in context, all these men designed complete environments, the ideal of the time. Wright did not throw everything out the windows but borrowed heavily from what was around him. And then he made more of it. Perhaps he became slightly bitter as styles changed leaving him behind. But he continued to adapt, borrow and reinvent himself to stay current. The beautiful lights that were reproduced is a tribute to his success.
Peter
Thanks! your compliments are appreciated. As to fitting it in, It looks and works well in all the houses that they went into. Aesthetics are philisophical anyways. Who says black does not "go" with white.
Thanks man!
Looks nice.
I've been to Taliesin and seen the original lamp. They didn't allow cameras in the building, but I studied the lamp intently for the brief time I was in the room.
It appears to be mostly dimension lumber. It think the "shades" are made with a mitre joint, and probably nails. The upright is two 1x2 boards with the wiring running up the middle. I believe the original has 2" spacing between the difusers and the shades. The dimensions on the original are all very "regular." The size of the post is the size of the squares in the shade. The size of the squares in the shade is the size of the squares between the shades and the difuser, etc.
The difusers were plywood, iirc. The lamp, like pretty much everything at Taliesin, was made by unskilled labor. Looks alot better in the photos than up close!
But it makes great light. I've been planning on making one myself, but I haven't quite worked out all the details. Too busy with other things.
They didn't allow cameras in the building.
They did when I was there and we took many. If I remember it is the first tour of the day, an extended tour before any other tours are present in the building. It costs more but you get to see more rooms and places that are not on the regular tour, and you can take pix at all times.
This was our tour guide showing how the mulled wine warmer swings into the fireplace in the living room.
EDIT I just re read your post and you were talking about T West and I was talking about Falling Waters. NEVER MIND, SORRY
Just had a picture to go from and the porportions are based on the space that I intended to fill with the lamp. Thanks!
Just had a picture to go from ...
I have since found out that there is a book on how to make this lamp. It is out of print but you can find old copies for sale on line. Gonna ask for one next birthday. Some of the differing comments about your / his lamp might be because of different needs, ie. is it art, soft accent to a corner of a room, or a lamp to read by? Not too sure if this lamp works as a reading lamp for an old geezer like me with eyes that seem to need more light than ever these days, but it sure would look nice in my family room. Again, nice work.
New pix
See if you can guess which is FLW and which is my design. One picture is called Falling Waters, the other is called File ing waters.
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