Occasionally I have an idea in mind when I switch on the welder, other times all I have is a part.  When I found this projector lens in a box I knew I had something, but it took a couple of welding rods to figure out what it was.  Once the basic elements were in place, … Continue reading Dragon Light

In the 80’s, the Jeep brand was owned by the American Motor Corporation, and the company as a whole was struggling to stay afloat. As anyone who has ever worked on a Jeep of this vintage will know, the nonsense under the hood was a veritable grab-bag of parts. Even within the same model year, … Continue reading The Metric Lamp

This lamp was intended as a proof-of-concept for a friend that was trying to pitch a very large hanging dinning room light fixture.  The idea was to have a massive cedar beam, inlaid with metallic blue accents that would have blue electrical insulators projecting from the beam via black gas pipe and hung at varying … Continue reading Hanging Hemingray Lamp

Have you ever had an idea so bad that you had to follow through on it?  That seemed to be a theme with this lamp.  It all started simply enough; take a kerosene headlight/turn signal lamp from a Ford Model T, put a lightbulb in it, make it a desk lamp.  Easy.  Then while I … Continue reading Fortunate Folly Lamp

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what I try to do is widen the audience.  This lamp originated with an espresso machine piston and a brass toilet tank valve, elements that were originally hidden in their intended operation.  I used the espresso piston to hold the lamp socket, and set it … Continue reading Ignition Lamp

The general work flow in my shop starts when I pick up a part from something and see something else.  In the case of these side table lamps however, I started with two lamps that I already liked, but that just seemed like they could be more interesting.  Instead of using the milk glass as … Continue reading Milk Glass Flower Lamps

How heavy is too heavy for a desk lamp?  At almost thirty pounds, this one has got to be close.  Originating with an antique bottle, my next thought was to suspend it between two electrical insulators that I could set the light sockets into.  From there I used a set of piston rods from an … Continue reading F Head Lamp

Looks can be deceiving, and deceiving can be involved.  Unlike most of the lamps that I build, this project had its origin in a lightbulb that I wanted to use.  I picked up an LED spot light, when I was buying bulbs for another project, because it was on sale.  Being rather specific, it sat … Continue reading Crucible Lamp

When I started making art, my most used tools were the welder and the angle grinder.  As I broadened the variety of materials I work with however, I occasionally come up with an idea that hardly use the welder at all.  This little lamp utilizes a cut bottle that’s been joined to a glass electrical … Continue reading Suspended side table Lamp

  A friend gave me an empty Blanton’s Whiskey bottle because he felt bad throwing it into the recycling bin.  I agreed that it was too pretty to be pitched, and immediately cut the bottom off.  I secured the bottle to a pair of shocks from a small aircraft with an aircraft pipe clamp.  I … Continue reading Whiskey Bottle Spot Light

  I like to take things apart.  Sometimes I fix those things, other times I replace those things with new things.  In either case I end up throwing very little away so that I can reuse pieces later on.  Since I started making art however, my friends have begun supplementing my parts stores with things … Continue reading Elevator Lamp

I was talking with a good friend in Colorado, and I brought up a hanging lamp idea I was kicking around. His response was that something like that would be awesome over his patio table. Normally, I make stuff and then hope someone will want it. Having someone say up front that they want whatever … Continue reading Patio Chandelier

From the mid 60’s to the mid 80’s Jeep installed Carter Carburetors on many of their vehicles, and for nearly as long, owners have pulled them off and thrown them in the trash. As my wife will happily attest however, I hate throwing things away.  I held onto to this carburetor for years, and held it up … Continue reading The Carter Lamp

The needle fine point of my work is that I make art out of trash.  Sometimes it’s my “trash,” sometimes I find it, other times people give it to me.  More often than not, my art grows out of all three sources.  In fact, many times I’ll start projects from my own stash of junk … Continue reading The Flying Twin

No two pieces that I make are exactly alike, but these are pretty close.  I helped pull these two coil springs off of a friends jeep and threw them under my work bench thinking I’d use them eventually.  Fast forward eight months and I finally pulled them back out and thought, “I’m tired of tripping … Continue reading Coil Lamps

The driving element of this standing lamp is the over-sized blue bottle that I used for the shroud.  I put a lot of thought into how the other aspects of the piece would balance between highlighting the glass and being eye-catching on their own.  The cascading steel pipe of the  neck is minimalistic to keep from casting … Continue reading The Alexandria Lamp

This lamp is the first in a series of works that feature a cut glass bottle for a shroud.  I was given the idea from a friend who wanted to have a “bankers” style lamp that incorporated a green wine bottle.  After a number of misadventures in glass cutting I worked out a technique that … Continue reading Desk Lamp One

One of the great aspects of working with discarded and junk material, is that every project is built on a foundation of unexpected and compounding connections.  None of this stuff was ever intended to go together, and most of my materials are acquired by chance.  I can only copy elements from prior work to the extent that I … Continue reading Crank & Chain Lamp

My second attempt at a set of valve cover lamps, same basic flavor with a few tweaks to the details. For this set I kept the Jeep connecting rods and brass pipe fittings, and keyed switches, but mixed in: larger piston heads for the feet, braided stainless steel lines to route the wiring, hot-rod style … Continue reading Black Chevy Valve Cover Lamps