Production

Step 1: Design

The designs for the lampshades come from all over. I’ve made it a practice to add any design that gets requested three or more times. Moose got added to the catalog that way. So have lady bugs, dolphins and cherries. I also get inspiration from greeting cards, gift catalogs, wallpaper and fabric.

Once I start working with an idea I play with the elements a bit. What appeals to me? Would it make a good "Scenic Shade"? Should it be painted inside or out? Do I want to make a border out if it? Lately I’ve started scattering the designs randomly across the shade, similar to a wallpaper pattern. A customer requested a floral shade like that and I really liked the effect. I add a lot of special order designs to my catalog - my customers have the very best taste!

The last step is to make the master pattern. I make a master in each lampshade size that the design will be offered in. A few designs can’t be adapted to the smaller lampshades, but most designs can be adjusted to fit every lampshade size I make.

Step 2: Cutting the Arcs

Each lampshade size has a uniquely shaped arc, even if the difference is as small as one half inch. After I write up an order I cut the arcs out of watercolor paper. The front arc in the picture is for the five inch shade on the left; the back arc is for the six inch shade on the right.

Step 3: Tracing

Step 4: Painting

This is my favorite part. All the time that I am creating a new design I am planning how it will be painted. I love to paint and my painting is part of what sets my cut-and- pierced paper lampshades apart from other ones that are on the market. They aren’t stenciled. They aren’t screen printed or even done on an assembly line. They are each individually hand painted and then signed.

Step 5: Detailing and Piercing.

Some designs have detailing that is added with fine tip markers after they are painted - a hummingbird’s eye or a flower’s stamen. Then comes something that people really seem to delight in - the piercing. Using a potter’s tool and a padded surface I punch holes in the design. It seems that the more piercing a design has, the more popular it is.

Step 6: Cutting

Now the step that sets these lampshades apart. The cutwork that allows the light to shine through is added. With lampshades that are painted on the outside, the cutwork isn’t even noticeable until the lamp is lit. But when it is!

Each lampshade is cut by hand using an exacto knife on a light table. Because of what follows, the cutting must be done with care. The cuts must each be in the right place and not too close together.

Step 7: Sculpting

After the lampshade is cut, I carefully roll the cut portions of the design inward to add a three dimensional appearance. This is where the planning pays off. Apples and pumpkins appear round and plump. Flowers bend gracefully and leaves weave in and out of the blossoms. The creative portion of the process is nearly done.

Step 8: Lining

To finish off the shade, a lining of thin tracing paper is added.

Step 9: Ring Machine

For years I glued the top and bottom rings in by hand, holding them in place with clothespins while the glue dried. Now, at last, I have a ring machine. Working a bit like a treadle sewing machine, it binds the lampshade to the ring with tape, saving me hours of drying time.

Step 10: Seaming up the Back

The back seam is glued and clamped until dry.

Step 11: Trimming

The last touch of creativity - adding the trim. A grosgrain for a country look. Perhaps a braid for a more formal look. A bit of color or something neutral.

Step 12: Wrapping

Each shade is signed inside along the backseam, proof that it has been handmade. Then it is wrapped in clear cellophane to keep it clean and dustfree.

After many steps, "An Old World Art Form Handmade in the USA".