Category Archives: art

The Firefly Lamp

On my Savvy Spoons Podcast, Episode 13 “Crafty Crap on a Sunday” I talk about a lamp I decided to make for a friend’s birthday from a partially used kit I found at the thrift store. In my most recent episode, “Touchstone Tuesday and My Tummy Wombat” I promised to share some photos of the finished lamp here for your amusement.


In making this lamp I used money from a LootCrate bundle I received I think back in 2014. The money was lovely really and came in blue and red, ($100 and $500 credit denominations.) It was perfect for the project because it was really high quality, thick paper with a solid tooth and was just large enough to fit into the allotted slots of the lampshade so long as I trimmed off the white edging.


For the extra elements on the lamp I cut the cardboard that came with the kit, painted it black with acrylic, and glued it along the outside to create another layer of paper lamp. I then cut out parts of the money to add shapes to the sides and top of the lamp.

Finally I painted the entire thing in a liquid metal antique copper paint and finished it with several layers of gloss mod podge.

After a quick but thorough boolean search of increasingly creative descriptors I am unable to find images of the kit. So here is a crappy drawing of the component parts, minus the various rectangular sheets of white paper that came with it. You’ll have to imagine those. It was four pine wooded legged parts, two with groves and two with elements that fit into the grooves.

And that my dears is the birthday gift. A one of a kind artistically rendered Firefly lamp.

Stay shiny!

Wrought

I’ve been working on finding my voice with my art. I’ve tried Ebrú, watercolor, oil, acrylic, pastel, sublimation dyes, all sorts of art styles. I seem to be an artist who likes to play in all the paints, and all the styles.

Most recently I’ve created a painting inspired by 2020. I used paper from a lampshade my dog decided to eat – as I believe our pets often lead us to our creative intentions. Clearly this paper was meant for more than mere light filtration.

I used dictionary pages and words as a backdrop, and watercolor and metallic paints, and quilling paper. I added and tore away, I used the metallic paints to mimic kintsugi techniques along the tears in the paper.
I wanted to capture the loss and the healing of the pandemic.

So here it is: Wrought. A finished something.

grateful…

a little bit,
a cunning dance,
not quite a gamble,
yet still a chance.

an awesome deal,
if you find the place,
maybe a steal,
if you win the race.

you gave your thanks
for what you’ve got,
now find a treasure!
you’ve got a shot!

how about this thing
you’ve never needed
it’s half price now
it’s even beaded.

with all the things
we seem to own
our need for crap
has grown and grown.

we buy ugly sweaters
that are made that way!
to wear them once
then throw away.

we turn up our nose
if the gifts we get
aren’t new and shiny
or don’t rack up debt.

while all the while
there are hidden gems
of home and style
discarded for whims.

the thrift store pros
know the secret grace
of discovering treasures
and finding them a place.

heirloom crystal discards
glitter and gleam in rows
some forgotten grandma’s silver
simply waiting for a bow.

the things we drop
in thrift stores bins
we hope absolve us
of our greedy sins.

it’s shameful to think
we buy so much
it’s almost like shopping
is a national crutch.

———
m.morehead 12/01/2020