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Welcome To
Lampshades For Potters
Potters can profit from lamps because the value added by converting pots into lamps far exceeds the extra investments in time and lamp parts. And potters are helped by the commercial trend today where better lamps are really expensive, and not very artistic.
To size your lamps, visit a few outstanding furniture stores and copy the sizes they show, because they will work with furniture proportions is almost all homes. One or another may even want to be a dealer for you. I get the impression that maybe three sizes of lamps is the optimum. That way you need only three sizes of lampshades, which controls your investment, and conserves space, both at home and at shows. And three sizes doesn't limit the variety of glazes you can use. Not at all!
Many potters refuse to make small lamps because they take almost as much time to make, and retail prices won't support that work. Other potters make a bunch of them, and many get the prices they need. You be the judge.
The strategy of lampshading is to make your lamp body look as good as possible. For example, it is better to undershade a lamp, than to overshade it. Too large a lampshade will overpower the lamp. A little on the small side and the lamp may even look better. Today's vogue favors smaller lampshades. In choosing top and bottom sizes the aim is to come up with an angle that compliments angles built into lamp bodies.
The best way to specify lampshade sizes is to come to a workshop like ours where you can choose from thousands (literally) of sizes. Lacking that, you can sketch your lamp body and possible lampshades on graph paper, or you can make two-dimensional models, then step back while an assistant holds the models over lamp bodies. The saving grace is that so much bad taste exists out there, that willing buyers always seem to step-up to take poorly matched units. And for every tale I tell, potters can tell me two!
There are a number of lampart suppliers. The two that I've had the most luck with are:
Midwest Lamp Parts
3534 N Spaulding Ave.
Chicago IL 60618
773-539-0628 |
W N deSherbinin Products
2 Augusta Dr.
Danbury CT 06810
800-458-0010 |
Midwest has more chrome and/or nickel plated parts than any other warehouse I know of.
With every good wish,
Richard O. Lazar
Owner
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