I have been making useful things all of my life. I make things that I like. If you like them too, that is a good thing. Within certain parameters I can adjust my designs to fit in with your plans, but basically my work springs from my head. This does not happen quickly and what you see here represents several decades of work. But this is exactly what I enjoy doing, and making my lighting for you is what motivates me. I have made my work for many places on the globe. We are where architects and interior designers come when they need something special, the interior jewelry that sets off an interior space, whether for the home, the office, restaurants, hotels and medical facilities. We have done them all. More information on my background is available here, should you care.

On a less formal note, let me tell you about what I do, and why.  Feel free to ignore this if all you need to do is to get to the actual lighting itself…but should you care to know more, why I do this and where it comes from, then read on

Sometimes it is better to explain things allegorically, that is, to come to some understanding in a more indirect fashion. In some ways, this will reveal more truth than straightforward explanations.

A few years ago I climbed a local volcano, no longer active for the past several million years.  I was looking for something a friend of mine suggested would be a special experience, and one always wants that.  Following a very small, but significant mountain freshet I beheld this amazing, surprising and beautiful presence:

There, cascading down the mountain, following the small stream were a host of beautiful orchids, group after group, stand after stand, all in perfect form and balance.  These were the yellow cypripediums, not entirely rare in New Hampshire, but unless you know where, and more importantly, when to look for them, you might never see them.

So, this is where I segue into my inspiration for design.  This plant is good design, for sure. It has an intrinsic style that is instantly recognizable as beautiful, because it sits comfortably and naturally in its environment, and because it grabs your immediate attention, making you want to understand it and to see more, and mainly because being the observer of this phenomenon, it makes you feel wonderful.

Here is another example of good design, this time from a different source.  You may think this mundane, but I feel differently. It is, after all, merely a wrench, an item of extreme utility.  But in my mind it exemplifies excellent design. Pick it up… it has a nice heft, fits the hand correctly and goes to work easily. On top of this it has what the Japanese call “tezawari”, a useful word that means it feels good to the touch, something that is important in utilitarian design although it can take many different forms.

Here is something different. A customer found a very old, and very dilapidated, French weather vane. They had the foresight to see that this rustic, (and utilitarian in its day) implement might possibly be made into a unique chandelier. They presented me with a significant challenge as most of its tubes were cracked and broken and there was no place to electrify it for a chandelier. The feathers on the arrows were nearly rusted to oblivion. But they liked its rustic quality (what the Japanese would call “shibui”, a wonderful word that is hard to translate but you know it when you see it. ) After a period of about a month, this chandelier was installed in a gorgeous lake house where it will live out the rest of its days.

Well, that is my story so far. Please don’t hesitate to call me and discuss your plans for your lighting needs.

Derek