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Floravita’s Reverse Painted Lamps

As corny as it may sound, my rooms no longer feel “complete” without my reverse painted lamps turned on. My first lamps were created for a gallery—Sorrel Sky Gallery in Durango, Colorado—and I felt guilty for not shipping them immediately after completion. Instead, I grew accustomed to them in my living rooms. I was really enjoying the new ambiance that these reverse painted lamps provided.

The photos that I’ve provided here on my website don’t do these lamps justice. I hope, in time, to learn to photograph the true illuminated beauty of these special lamps.

I hand-craft my glass shades here in my studio. A lot goes into each of these reverse painted lamp shades before I begin painting. Even hardware components at the top need to be specially machined here in my studio for these lamps.

The beauty is that these hand painted lamp shades can fit over other bases—for example, an antique base that’s been in the family—as I can provide the hardware that holds the glass.

This particular Tiffany style lamp stands 27″ tall. When they are illuminated, a special glow fills the surrounding area. My rooms feel empty without these lights turned on! I love the splashes of vibrant color and the warmth of the light…so much nicer than I can show here in a photograph. I’m now working to have a few extra reverse painted lamp shades on hand so that I don’t have to ever let go of my only lamps again.

By jennyfloravita
Published: November 8, 2011
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Floravita Painted Night Lights, grab ‘em while you can!

My hand-crafted, hand painted glass night lights have been a work in progress for over two years. Like anything good, it took me a good solid year to figure out how I would mount the fixtures, what fixtures I would use and how I would approach the painting of my subjects. It then too me another year to paint and create my glass night lights on a regular basis let alone offer them on my website.

My reverse painted chandeliers offer me a large glass canvas to freely paint flowers and mix colors. On the other hand, the night lights only gave a limited amount of space in which to capture my ideas. At first I tried to capture big sections of my chandeliers and compress them into my small glass shapes and that did produce some interesting and original painted night lights that took too long to paint (for what I was charging—keep in mind I cut, slump and cold work each glass shape and in those days I was also creating the backing that attaches to the fixture).

Certain subjects were a hit right away and I continue to offer those in my collection. Others were truly one-of-a-kind and the collectors who purchased those particular pieces got a great deal!

Because each hand painted night light is truly original and unique in it’s own way—no two could possibly be alike—and I allow myself a certain freedom in how I paint them, I don’t post each and every “new” night light that is created on my website. It would simply take too long to do so. A good friend who designs unique jewelery pieces said this, “it’s a grab ‘em while you can get ‘em situation” and that is so true because I’m inspired to create and paint my night lights in batches. When I’m focusing on my chandelier commissions I’m usually not creating night lights.

I am not a production artist so I will continue to paint unique night lights and I’ll continue to allow myself to veer off from my designs and color schemes and yes, some night lights that were “hits” will eventually no longer be offered. After all, I’m an innovative artist and I have to be interested and inspired to create truly unique works! It’s just how it is and I’m true to my work.

By jennyfloravita
Published: November 4, 2011
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Beautiful New, Floravita Reverse Painted Chandelier in Rose Colors

It’s been a very busy month in my studio and I’ve juggled commissioned reverse painted chandeliers, painted lamps and even a mural sized oil painting for a national fundraiser.

In fact, most of the summer season was spent working on commissions. Don’t get me wrong—I love commissions but it’s also very gratifying as an artist to create original works that are ‘new’.

This reverse painted chandelier is inspired by the large 36″ original, Romantic Summer Garden, only it has rose colors throughout and no sky blues. It features roses and peonies flowers. This is a very, very lovely piece in person and I look forward to photographing this work and adding it to my collection on my website.

By jennyfloravita
Published: November 3, 2011
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The art of living life in the ‘now’

It’s so easy to get caught-up in waiting for the future. Every now and then I have to remind myself to live more for “now” and I suspect that many people are the same in this respect. We set goals, reach for them, work hard. As a working artist and a business person I must constantly look into the future and work towards deadlines. A huge part of my business operation revolves around planning for the future and I think that if I didn’t embrace this characteristic as naturally as I do that I wouldn’t be as successful as I am today.

On the other hand my husband is good at living in the “now”. In fact, he excels at it. He’s always working in our lush tropical yard or working on some section of the house or garage improving this or building that… He has a better natural balance in the art of living life in the now. People who are naturally good at this probably have to be born with this trait while others need to concentrate more on the ‘now’ to bring it into their lives.

In the last home that I owned in Santa Cruz I had make a couple improvements that were easy and yet they added a certain quality of life that was, well, nice. The problem was that I didn’t do this until I had decided to sell my home and move back to the Bay Area outskirts. It definitely occurred to me that I could have been living with these improvements all along and I would have really enjoyed them. This was one of those lessons that stays with you——not that I learn these lessons well enough as I promptly went back to focusing my business on the future…so it’s good that I have my husband to help keep us current.

That reminds me, I should go out to my yard and enjoy the scent of the last plumeria and ginger blossoms while they last…

By jennyfloravita
Published: October 15, 2011
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Commissioned abstract hand painted chandelier

Here is a commissioned abstract hand painted chandelier that that was finished within the last month. I worked closely with my collector to create a piece that would compliment the colors in her dining room. My collector has an art collection that is primarily composed of abstracts with warm jewel colors. Her art collection is international and her works have memories of her travels in foreign lands. Her color palate also has a lot of desert color influences.

We took elements from her abstract works to add to this chandelier. I’d like to add that I felt comfortable accepting this commission for a few reasons. One being that my client genuinely likes my style—she just doesn’t have floral influences in her decor. We spoke a lot about how this piece would develop and I had immediate visions of how I could create her chandelier after viewing pictures of her space and existing works of art.

I think it’s important to understand that when you view an artists portfolio—know that is what that artist does well. I turn down commissions every year when people approach me to do something that is very, very different from what exists naturally within my style and interests. You, as an art collector, will have the most success in creating custom commissions if you choose artists based upon the style that you see. That said, I had an immediate feeling on how I could create a piece with abstract elements that would be unique for my client and would also be genuine to my style.

I could say a lot more about this piece. On a very basic level, needless to say it was very interesting to create as a commissioned abstract hand painted chandelier. I am working on a second piece for my collector now. It is nice to be able to share my life’s work with those of you who read my blogs. Life as an artist is a constant journey!

By jennyfloravita
Published: September 30, 2011
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Commissioned Reverse Painted Glass Chandelier for Kauai home

This is a recent commissioned reverse painted glass chandelier that is destined for a lovely new home on Kauai. Birds of paradise are my client’s favorite flower. We decided that this piece would be multicolored like many of my tropical bird and flower chandeliers. Tropical themes are my forte—they are my chosen life-long artistic direction for my traditional oil and watercolor paintings. My painted glass chandeliers in this direction are highly unique.

The goal was to create a piece that encompassed my client’s vision of paradise. We also used stargazer lilies and two different types of heliconia flowers. My client’s wife loves hummingbirds so I’ve painted two next to flowers. This piece has a lush dream-like feeling,

Going back to the birds of paradise—I’ve painted them in a very defined fashion. This piece features six birds of paradise in total including a section that is almost like a wreath of birds of paradise.

In many ways it’s hard to truly show how beautiful each one of these reverse painted glass chandeliers are in person. I cannot emphasize enough how beautiful these painted chandeliers are live. I’m very happy with how this piece turned out. This reverse painted glass chandelier has a lot of thought, planning and effort behind it. My hopes for this piece are that it will be enjoyed by my client and his family in their lovely new island home for generations to come. Much Aloha to them!

By jennyfloravita
Published: September 27, 2011
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Hawaiian Inspired Commissioned Hand Painted Chandelier

I loved creating this special commissioned hand painted chandelier. This piece was created for a couple (who have also become friends as they are in my artist community) and will be moving to Florida. The actual chandelier is inspired by their memories of Hawaii. All of the flowers in this piece were from my client’s own travel photos.

I love the fact that this chandelier will be installed in their new home in Florida. Our process began with looking at my different painted chandeliers on my website. My collectors are fortunate enough, for once, to be able to visit my studio. We talked about the space that the chandelier was intended for and then came up with a color palate that was based upon the favorite flowers.

This piece has gorgeous blue sky hues and deep sunset colors. Pink is a color theme—I really hadn’t done a primarily ‘pink’ flower piece but fell in love with this one when it was finished. Stay tuned for photos of this hand painted chandelier in it’s new home down the line!

By jennyfloravita
Published: September 19, 2011
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Beautiful Reverse Painted Table Lamp For a Somber Day

It’s a small world and I think everybody alive today in this country has been effected by the tragic events of 10 years ago. Almost everybody knows someone who lost a loved one or who survived by what seems like sheer luck. I know two people who directly lost either friends or family on September 11, ten years ago. This in mind, I thought that today I should be productive despite the somber mood of our country. The above piece is a reverse painted table lamp that I completed today.

Though nobody alive in my family today directly remembers the attacks on Peal Harbor—our nation’s other significant foreign attack— my family carries this unfortunate event in our history. My grandmother and her family waited two weeks to find out if her older brother was alive—and he was, though he returned a very different person. His ship, the USS West Virginia, sank in the battle and he lost friends in the most horrible of ways. For my great-uncle, from what I understand his life was never easy after that fateful day. I think that the family probably felt extreme relief to find him alive. I’m sure that helped make our memory of Pearl Harbor a bit better, considering the circumstances.

Painting is my greatest gift and what I feel is my purpose in this life. It’s my contribution to society—however small—and it’s important to me to continue to use my talent to produce beauty. When I was painting this reverse painted table lamp I thought of all of the highly productive people who’s lives were cut short—some in an instant and some in what must have been an agonizingly long time—and all of the people who grieved hardest from their loss. Life is what it is…the good and the bad. I worked today in honor and contemplation of those who would not have the choice…ten years later.

By jennyfloravita
Published: September 11, 2011
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Beautiful Art Shot of Reverse Painted Glass Chandelier Bowls

I’m surrounded by my work daily. I cannot escape it and that’s probably a good thing for an artist. It forces me to examine and contemplate my creations. This is a moment in my front gallery studio where my reverse painted glass chandelier bowls reflect off my baby grand.

The chandelier bowl in the foreground is my newest piece and it’s inspired by the desert. In a way, this one shot summarizes a lot of what I hold dear: my paintings, my painted chandeliers, music and my love for tropical flowers and jungle foliage. The banana is artificial but we do have several live bananas surrounding the property!

By jennyfloravita
Published: September 2, 2011
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Future Reverse Painted Chandelier…Loaded Up And Ready To Go

What a busy but productive week! It’s been a little while since I’ve had to go into production with my standard pieces for my reverse painted chandeliers. I make glass bowls here in my studio and tend to make 8-10 at a time. It’s more technical and labor intensive work than creative. Usually I wait until I’m at the bottom of my stack of bowls to make more, which is the case right now. I think that’s understandable given the fact that I’m a painter first and foremost.

I’m due to start three new commissions. One is for another glass artist  and his wife, who are moving to Florida within the next couple years. It’s for the family home. I love to create reverse painted chandeliers for other artists because they have a deep appreciation for the amount of work (not to mention an understanding of cost) that goes into making a functional work of art like a chandelier.

We sat down and had a lovely time going through flower photos that were taken in Hawaii and elsewhere. My specialty is tropical flowers and this sets me apart in my work. I have an understanding for tropical flowers and have been painting and studying them for more than a decade.

I take great pride in my painted chandeliers. The glass bowls don’t magically appear for me in a store—they’re created by hand. My glass bowls have a durability, quality and character that are unique to my work alone. Though I wish it were an easier process—the creating of each piece as my blank glass canvas—the efforts are well worth the end results.

So the glass bowl above…well, let’s just say it’s in it’s infancy with several more hours to go. It is destined to become a reverse painted chandelier and above all, a work of art…perhaps like this:

Bahama, Macaw, a Reverse Painted Chandelier by artist Jenny Floravita

By jennyfloravita
Published: August 11, 2011
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