When the desire to transform a room arises, people hardly ever consider their ceiling…and yet some of the most opulent objects in the world hang from ceiling. I bet many people immediately imagine a chandelier when the word opulent is spoken. Your ceiling space is sacred. It completes your dwelling and keeps you safe from the elements. And yet it’s often given little thought artistically when one’s designing a room. Artful lights have the power to transform rooms and express your style.
To briefly explain the art form, a reverse painted chandelier is painted from the inside of the glass, in reverse, which is easier said than done. It’s a very challenging art form that I have mastered through the years. This isn’t the only part: all of my glass bowls are formed in my studio in California as are my iron fixtures. I create a complete chandelier. Every piece is a Unique work of art for the ceiling.
I have always been an artist—it is a calling. As a youth I studied painting, drawing, music and ballet. In the late 90s I graduated with a degree in Art from University of California, Santa Cruz. From there I went out into the world as a young graphic designer who quickly transitioned to selling oil and watercolor paintings through galleries and fine art festivals. In the 2000s I was introduced to reverse glass painting and my world transformed.
My clients give me very challenging color and design combinations when they request custom painted chandeliers. My years as a graphic designer taught me how to listen carefully to clients. Occasionally I paint a chandelier more than once to achieve the artist vision that my client has in their mind. The joy that I receive in the end from the art form comes from the joy that my clients express when they describe the beautiful transformation of their rooms. Photos never do justice for reverse painted chandeliers. In fact, when you look in magazines lights are often turned off in rooms, even when the lights are the featured element. It’s difficult art form to present in photos.
To describe a very special characteristic within my work, as you walk around the glass bowl, the artistry pops out in a very three-dimensional way. A painted glass garden over a dining table literally changes the ambiance of a room. My technical painting style is very expressive and there is a lot of movement within my painted glass bowls. It’s an art form that I’m endlessly trying to evolve in artistically. And I have discovered through the years that pieces also pair well with my wall art.
When I’m not creating custom painted chandeliers, I’m creating new pieces to offer through my studio. My inspiration comes from many places. Fresh flowers from a garden or even a color combination that I see in a magazine or photos can be the beginning point for a new reverse painted chandelier. Usually I paint lush flower scenes but I am also known for vibrant abstracts that have the colors of a painted desert. Vineyard and mixed flower and grape scenes are beautiful with the glass bowls. Oceans and even Hawaiian scenes are also in my repertoire (whereas with my wall art, I paint tropicals and coastal themes primarily). Often I’m inspired simply by a lovely floral scent in a perfume and I usually play ambient music when I paint, it set me into a meditative state.
