Meredith: Chandi Lighting

Chandi Lighting - Client Images

I come from a family of bicycle enthusiasts so when I saw the Velo collection by artist Meredith Clark of Chandi Lighting, I was instantly in love.  They were amazing pieces of art--like nothing I had seen before!  I was completely drawn into the design and details of every piece and wanted a couple of them for myself.  Even though I am always taken in by the swirls and frills of her Classic collection, and I gasp in amazement at the Eclectic and Contemporary collections, the Velo collection is still a favorite of mine.

I was thrilled when she agreed to let me sit down to get to know her better and to talk with her about her creative process.  I can't wait to own a Chandi Designs chandelier of my own someday!

Chandi Lighting - Velo Collection

SMC: What made you say to yourself, “I think I’m going to make a chandelier!”

Meredith: My older son was 6 months old and his dad did all the buying for Shabby Chic and I trailed along. We would do all the flea market rounds buying all the old furniture. My sister-in-law was Rachel Ashwell’s partner at the time, so that was really fun. This was 1996-97 and nobody was yet doing any reproductions of that style--it was getting harder and harder to find that turn-of the century design--that beaded piece. One day at the flea market, one of our vendors literally had boxes and boxes of crystal. I was always looking for something to do. I had to do something with my hands and I thought eh {shrugs}, and I bought some of them and we went home.

SMC: You didn’t buy all the boxes?

Meredith: I didn’t buy all the boxes that day. I went home and my mother-in-law had a [chandelier] frame in her bathroom. It’s called a raspini. It’s a very typical little bitty classic design and I took the chandelier and had the frame copied.

SMC: You had somebody do the metal?

Meredith: And I just started beading it.

SMC: How did the first chandelier turn out?

Meredith: It turned out great. I don’t have it but I can picture it in my mind. Totally mismatched crystal. The wire that I used–the point was to make it look old--was really bright silver and I actually ended up, on that piece, going over it with a sharpie to color it. But I took it to my sister-in-law and I said, ‘What do you think? And she said, “Oh, my gosh. I love it.! Where did you get it?” And I said, “I just made it.” So, it gave me something to do and I started making just that chandelier for Shabby Chic.

SMC: For Shabby Chic?

Chandi Lighting  -  Classic Collection

 Meredith: Yeah, I did that for probably a couple years when my son was little and it gave me something to do.

SMC: At what point did you think you could make a living with lighting?

Meredith: I did a lot of sculpting. I lived in New York for a time and worked with wire a lot. I’ve always been that person--I need to create things--so this served that for me but allowed me a chance to make a little bit of money and work around my baby. And then, I guess about a year and a half later, I was also studying to go to medical school.

SMC: That’s a real left-brain, right-brain switch.

Meredith: That’s me. I need both. I also danced for a long time and when I stopped dancing was when I started moving toward creating things with my hands. So I was studying to go to medical school, I took my MCAT, and I was about to apply and I thought, I don’t want to spend the next 8-10 years away from, at that time, one child, and I looked at this and thought, Maybe I’ll keep doing this.
I would have had a very different life but I don’t think I would want it.

Jump to maybe five years ago and I was again in one of those situations where I had separated from the dad, I bought this house—it’s a complete tear-down with a leaky roof and everything else--and I remember getting this phone call from a designer and she’s like, "Naomi Watts wants a chandelier.  Can we get wholesale pricing?"

I’m like ?!? So then I felt myself getting a little bit resentful. By that time I’d made chandeliers for Jennifer Lopez – so I was just at this point where I was like, This is kinda BS.  I’m making chandeliers for all these people who have way too much money; they don’t need anything, and I’m like, I don’t know if I want to be doing this.

 Chandi Lighting  -  Contemporary Collection

 Then I got an order and it was exactly the right thing at the right time. It was a woman in Scottsdale. She wanted a huge custom piece, so I made it and talking to the designer, she seemed difficult. I flew out there and met her and she was a little offhand but I made the chandelier and it’s done and it’s gorgeous and I had to go install it.  I always get so nervous – are they gonna like it? I know what I’ve put into it but what are they gonna think?

It showed up and it shipped in two crates.  I really hoped she wouldn’t be there but she was sick that day so she was there and she wanted to see it. I opened these two crates, peanuts fall out everywhere, nothing’s on it because I have to put the crystals on it. And she gasped and she said,  "I have goosebumps."  She spent the entire day just sitting watching this thing go up, watching me hang every little thing on it.

As she was doing this she started telling me about her life. She was pretty young and she was talking about all these kids she’s kind of adopted around the world that she actually goes to see and take care of. The house—there’s a Chagall leaning up against a wall, and she said, "You know what Meredith?, I believe it’s OK to spend money but you need to spend money on the things that make you smile. For me, it’s art and jewelry. And your work is both."

And I’m like, Thank goodness she can afford my chandeliers because I love making them! And it gets to the end [of assembly] and it’s so weird because usually I know what I’m doing with a piece. There’s always that bottom piece—the anchor of the chandelier. I had no idea what I was going to put there.
She said, "What are you going to put on the bottom?"
I told her, "To be honest, I don’t know. I brought a couple things."
She said, "Wait, wait, wait."  She comes back and she has this crystal ball in her hands and says, "Can we use this?"
"Yeah, it’d be perfect!"
"I bought this ten years ago. I don’t know why. My daughter was with me when I got it. Can we put it on there?"
"Sure, let’s do it!" And all of a sudden she was brought into the creation of this piece. And she said, "I’m going to have this forever."

Chandi Lighting  -  Classic Collection

I literally got on the plane to go home and on the way home from the airport I just started crying and thought, You know what? There actually is more to this than making a chandelier. And people feel what I put into it and maybe in some way this is my medical school. So, from that point on, I’ve just kind of tried to embrace that more and more and share that with people and say, You know, you’re getting so much more than a light fixture. 

SMC: That's so great!  I love your thoughts about light and energy.

Meredith: First of all, energy is light and I think that light is so important in our lives. It effects our moods. It effects everything around us, right? And then you combine that with crystal which itself kind of holds--if you believe that--different crystals hold different energy.  I actually work with a dealer in New Mexico and he was talking to me about it and asked if I take my direction into places where I work.  He told me I need to think about it because what I create and make actually creates a vortex just because of what it holds.

SMC: I completely understand that! You say the client’s vision is the guiding force behind the design and that you often design for a space you’ve never seen. How do you begin the process of creating a chandelier for someone whose psyche and space is unknown to you?

Meredith: I just finished one.  It’s for a designer who I started working with last year. She called and started describing this space she was designing. I was trying to picture it, getting dizzy thinking about it. She had hopscotch floors and a garden bench and then something on the back and I was thinking, Where are you going with this? She wanted one of the bicycle pieces and then she didn’t want acid she wanted to add color to it. I don’t like making anything ugly but I need to give the client what they’re asking for. So I did it and by the time I had finished it I looked at it and thought, Huh, it actually works!  Then she sent me a picture of it in the space and I thought, Wow! It really works!  So even though I couldn’t picture it, I still had a sense of her. She called back for another project and she explained it. "It’s a beach house. We want it to go with the water." I had in my mind what I wanted it to be like but she said, "I want to use bike chain and metal ball chain and clear and aqua and cobalt." Then she wanted it to be two separate pieces that joined in the middle. So again, I had no idea what I was going to do with it.

Chandi Lighting  -  Eclectic Collection

SMC: But you do it! Have you ever interpreted a client’s vision incorrectly?

Meredith: I never have. Everybody gets [their piece] and it’s better than they could have possibly imagined, which is really nice, but sometimes I wonder!  And then a lot of it, I think, is I usually only ever get see them in the studio. It’s the hardest thing to get people to send me pictures once they’re hung.

SMC:  Really? That seems weird to me.

Meredith:  I know. And then once I see them in the space, when I get to do an installation or last year . . . I had done a lot of chandeliers for Martina McBride’s home in Tennessee and I walked in and I loved them! It’s so funny to say because I’m only saying it like, My God, I really did that?! It’s so fun!

SMC: Is the design process recursive? Somebody says, this is what I want and then you edit it and come back around or do you go right to the final design?

Meredith: Usually they’ll go off what already exists. They’ll look at the site and say they want this but can I do it in this size or is there a way we can use this material and do it in these colors?

SMC: They do have a lot of options to start from.

Meredith: I try to get as much information as I possibly can because I’m visual in that way so everything from send me pictures of the room to the furniture that’s in there, the color of your walls, the fabric of furniture that’s going in.

SMC: It sounds like you can’t think about how they’re going to change the space in the future. You have to go with what they have in there right now.

Meredith: Right.

Chandi Lighting  -  Empire Collection

SMC: Aqua crystals in the Eclectic and Semi Precious collections make my heart stop.  There is an astonishing amount of detail and difference in a huge range of designs. How do you know when the design is finished? I would say, OK, aqua crystals?  We're good--all done!

Meredith: A lot of people want progress photos. I can’t totally explain to people the process because they wouldn’t get it. We’ll decide on what we’re doing--we decide on this design and I figure out what the frame needs to look like so I can have that made. I draw that onto the floor and then Jeff, my welder, gathers all the pieces to put together and as that’s going on, this thing is going on in my head. I actually solve a lot of – I work a lot in my dreams. I’ll go to bed and not really know something. I’ll wake up and there it is—which is fun, but it usually sits for a month in my head before anything comes out. So if I tell people that half the time is spent with nothing going on in my head . . .  That’s one of the reasons I hate being behind schedule--because then I don’t have time to really work with a piece. I have to rush rush rush rush. Sometimes it starts to go together but then I’ll just stop because it’s not feeling quite right and I’ll let it hang there for a while. And I move around it. Walk in and out. Give it some days to just sit and then I’ll come back having usually woken up with this idea. 

SMC: You should do a time lapse photo some time.

Meredith: I want to—I think it would be so fun.

Chandi Lighting - Contemporary Collection

 SMC: Do you have a favorite crystal or bead or metal you just love to use?

Meredith: It totally changes. One of my favorite stones to work with is calsydney and it’s a natural crystal—a semi-precious stone. In its natural state it’s kind of one color but then it’s fired at different temperatures and depending on the temp it's fired at it becomes different colors, so you get greens and aquas, blues purples, bright yellow. It just has a quality that draws you in so I love that. Other than that though it just depends. I go through phases.

Usually I’m much more about. . .  I like clear crystal, colored accents but not a lot of saturated color.  But this one show a few years ago--at the time my niece was reading all the Twilight books and zipping through them--so this one show in particular, everything was red. Red to the point where people who were walking by my booth were not recognizing it because it was red and amber. There was so much color in it. Now I’m out of my vampire phase. Right now I’m really into this steel mesh.  I found a finer steel that is like linen.

SMC: Seems like you’d already know what is out there but you’re still finding new materials.

Meredith: Always.

SMC: Your designs have gone from the Classic collection then to the Contemporary and to the Empire and to the Velo collections. The design possibilities seem limitless. Do you see a certain direction your work will go?

Meredith: There’s always a balance and most of it comes down to time. Fulfilling and designing pieces that people are asking for and then having enough mental space to move in my own direction at the same time and keep moving forward and doing new things.

Chandi Lighting - Ceiling Mount

SMC: Even though you live in a small city now, your work is very well known in the boutique lighting industry. How do you get your name in front of decorators, potential clients, and the media?

Meredith: Early on I got very, very lucky. I started doing trade shows and the first one I did was with a rep group in Atlanta. It was Margo Tantau who had a showroom that was just amazing. She focused on handmade things and brought me in and really promoted me to her client base and then once I did maybe two shows with her and it got to be too big for her to handle I started doing it on my own.  From then on--I mean, I had a period of 10 years--where I got press consistently and it was great.
 
SMC: What’s the hardest thing about designing for somebody or a space—the most challenging thing?

Meredith: I don’t know. I mean honestly, going into it there’s always that question of whether I’m getting it right or not and as I said, I’ve never gotten it wrong but there’s always a certain amount of . . . anxiety.

SMC: What is the most rewarding part about it?

Meredith: One of the most rewarding things about doing trade shows is I get to see my clients and have the feedback. Like I said, no news is good news and if they get something and it works I don’t hear OH, you should see it! I hear if it’s a little bit damaged. So to be back in that situation and just talk to people. People come by and that’s when they tell me, “You should see it.”

There was a woman. She owned a store and the chandeliers weren’t really the price point for her store but she would always come by and look. She’d say, "I really want that one for my house."

I’m like, "Get it. Just take it home with you. It’s a show piece.  Just take it home." And she didn’t and she didn’t and the next time she didn’t and finally, finally she bought it and I still see her and the time after she bought it she just looked at me and said, "I smile every time I walk down my stairs. I love it!"

That’s why I do this.

SMC: That’s how it should be. I give you a lot of credit because your pieces are so magical.  If you could design a chandelier for any building in any place in the world at any point in history, where would that chandelier hang? OR who would it be designed for?

Chandi Lighting - Ceiling Mount

 Meredith: That’s a really tough one. It wouldn’t be in a building. It would actually be a building. My latest thing that I really want to do in the past couple years, as much as I’ve been able to expand I still feel like I’m limited in my knowledge of the technology of light. Everything I do is really based in incandescent and there’s so much happening with LED right now and I’m trying to incorporate that into it. It’s never been fine enough to actually use on the style of chandelier that I like to do but I mean, it’s to the point where the technology is there where you can create an entire space that is about light.  So walking into a room, as you’re moving through the room, the light’s changing or the walls themselves are lit or they become different colors or tones, so lighting architecture is what I really want to move into. 

SMC: I almost hate to ask, but do you have a favorite piece, ever?

Meredith: Each new one I make . . . it’s my favorite. It really is. I get finisehd with it and it’s,  This is it!  My favorite recently is Bowen because it was divergent.  Like I said, there’s a classic eight-light chandelier, lots of scrolls on it, very crystally. Done. That can get a little bit boring, as beautiful as it is. I’ll get bored with it and all of a sudden it’s hanging there and I‘m like, It really is pretty. I'm kind of moving away from that. Life is not like that . . . neat.  Life is not neat. There’s always balance to things but that balance does not mean that everything is centered. And so Bowen was actually this idea of playing around with asymmetry and balance and how things interconnect but aren’t the same.

Chandi Lighting - Velo Collection

 SMC: Now that you describe it, it makes sense why I like it.

Meredith: There is a collection I did that’s all wonky like that. There’s one piece I did called Hadley and I took it to the last show and hung it. No one looked at it. No one. It hangs at three levels and the arms, where the lights are, are like dancers really, and they’re off- centered and it’s three squares on top of each other but it’s not complete crystal.  It misses a few crystals here and then it skips a whole crystal and skips a few more holes and it hangs kind of {crooked gesture}.  I took it to the show. Nothing. Not one comment. So this last show no one likes it. I think Maybe I’ll fill in the holes so they can understand it and I ran out of time I was like, Forget it , I’m just going to take it again. That piece? Every single person that walked in!

Chandi Lighting -  Light Industrial Collection

I have to remember that I’ll make something and it usually takes months to a year for it to be noticed. People have to get comfortable with a new idea and I’ll have ideas but there’s that collective consciousness that while I’m making something, ten other people are making something similar. That’s how trends come. You just start to move in a direction so coming out with something at the beginning, nobody knows it yet.  Unless someone is kind of forward thinking themselves they’re going to look at it and go, Huh.  Once they see similar things, it’s safer—they’re allowed then to like it.

Of course I want chandeliers everywhere but you don’t have to have them everywhere. You need one in a prime location that’s really special. Lighting is interesting. If it’s terrible you notice it and if it’s spectacular, you notice it but the mediocre just kind of disappears at the same time. People don’t realize how having the right piece in the right place can really transform a space. The most frustrating thing is people building or doing a remodel.  Lighting is usually the last thing they think about because it’s hanging. By the time they get to it they’re over budget and then even though they’ve spent hundreds of thousands on this house they’re like, "Well, I need a light for 500." You’re doing it the wrong way.

SMC: People will actually design a space around a light?

Meredith: Yeah. There is a house that I did in California last hear and it was through a designer. The designer said, "This is what we’re doing. Go do it." I got to go install everything and make everything look good. The people moved back into their house and the designer called and said,  "They don’t even want to hang art on the walls because they compete with the chandeliers."

Chandi Lighting - Classic Collection

SMC: It IS jewelry!  I think what you do is amazing. Thank you so much!

Meredith - Chandi Lighting

Happiness Tips for the Week

Hello!

Do you ever have one of those times when you feel like you may never catch up? I'm in one of those times now. It's easy for me to feel overwhelmed but one thing I've learned, if nothing else, is that if I am going through something, somebody else has or is going through the same thing.  With that in mind, if you're feeling bogged down these days, here are some ideas to keep you on the Happy Track!

1. Key into a new song you love and play the heck out of it. Here's one I'm loving lately.

2. Learn to do Sun Salutations. Then do them.

Guided Sun Salutations tutorial from HathaYoga.net

3. Pet your pet.  Here's mine.

4. Spend time with your people, even if you don't think you've got any time. Otherwise you won't have any people.  This is some of my FamDamily I got to spend time with at Easter.

5.  Compliment at least one person this week. Start with yourself.

What are some of your ideas to stay on the Happy Track? Do share them and have a great week!

Self-Cleaning Floors

Hello!

Have I told you guys about my self-cleaning floors?

No?

Really?

Oh, right. Because I don't have those. Nor do I have self-painting walls or a 50+ mile bike course that will figure itself out or self pulling weeds or any number of other things that ohmyholycriminy would be SO helpful right now! Do you? Because if you do, I totally want what you've got.

When I was little . . . m-kay, maybe not so little, but when I used to go to my grandma's house, I would push and poke all over the Handi Wrap or Glad Wrap or Saran Wrap box (I can't remember which, but it was more expensive than the kind we bought.) to see if those tiny, magic, not-enough-fingered cartoon hands would pop out like on the commercial and DO stuff! They didn't.

I also waved the Scrubbing Bubbles can around like a magic wand figuring those little dudes would appear and start Ice Capading around the place.  They would work hard so I wouldn't have to!

 They didn't.

Then I realized this is a recurring (Gasp!) Lazy theme with me.  First Jane, now I remember also longing for magic hands and bubbles and I currently fantasize about self-cleaning floors?!

I need to get my mojo back!   

Sweet Easter Bouquet

Hello!

You know I'm terrible in the kitchen. When I said I Blame Jane I said I would be better but I've pretty much failed. I still don't cook (much). I still assemble, and I've still got a raging sweet tooth.  What to contribute to the Easter weekend then?  Visual, sugary fun--that's what! Enter, the Easter Peeps and Rice Krispies Treats Bouquet. 

I don't care if these skewered birds and bunnies get roasted over the fire pit or end up Peeps jousting in the microwave, it's the presentation that matters and the presentation is colorful and fun!  Truth be told, it's really all about the Rice Krispies treats. They're one of my top five favorite foods. For real.  I really want to eat them lots of them.

The bouquet making process is simple:

• Pull apart all the Peeps.
• Skewer the Peeps.  I rubbed vegetable oil on the skewers so the Peeps slid on easily without being crushed.
• Wrap in cello bags.
• Make Rice Krispies treats and don't call them cereal treats, because . . . no.  I mixed Easter colored sprinkles into my mix.
• Cut them into Easter shapes with cookie cutters.  I cut bunnies and eggs.
• Skewer the Rice Krispies treats.
• Wrap in cello bags.
• Put a foam block into the bottom of a container.  I left the plastic packaging on it since I knew I would be putting candy on the top.  I used foamy craft tape on the bottom of the foam block to hold it down.   

• Stick the skewers into the foam and keep filling in until you're satisfied with how full it is.  If you don't think it's full enough, you can fill in with tissue paper.  That would be really pretty!
• Cover the foam with Easter candy. 

How much fun is that?  Tons.

Happy Easter ~ Happy Spring!

Linking up to Happy Hour Friday 03.29 at Happy Hour Projects.

Shelf Redo with La Craie

Hello!

One of my sisters-in-law (I have six of them) gave me an old wall cabinet a few years back. She used to have the Midas Touch with old furniture but I think she lost interest in doing that type of thing so she gave the shelf to me.  I was really looking forward to redoing it because I loved the detail on the wood. I finally went out to get started on it and it literally fell apart in my hands! I tossed the glass cabinet front and the shelves because I had no idea what I would do with them. I was left with pieces of old, filthy wood with rusty nails and lots of disappointment.

Oh well, I salvaged the bottom detail that was underneath the cabinet to be a nifty shelf and the door frame to be a frame for something else like a chalkboard or a bulletin board. Look at the muck! The detail though, is really beautiful so I decided to give this wood some much needed TLC.

I wanted the scrolling detail to show so I just filled in the grooves with La Craie paint that I bought from Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage. I'd used it before and liked it and thought it would be perfect for this wood. It was.  It was SO easy to use, wiped off when I needed it to, and provided great color where I needed it.

The finished product wasn't supposed to be polished because that's not how I roll.  I like things to be quirky and a little rough.  Mission accomplished!  I love the contrast of the blue and the old wood stain.

Even the sides are pretty, in my book.
Before--with bad white balance.

After with good paint and decent white balance.

Honestly, I dig it.  As with most projects I've done lately, I have no idea where I'll put it but can't wait to figure it out!  Thanks for stopping by.  I'd love to know what wood pieces you've given new life to lately.  Drop me a link!

Linking up to Transformation Thursday #197 at The Shabby Creek Cottage.

Paper Ovens from Claudine Hellmuth

If you've spent any time at all here you know I'm a big fan of Claudine Hellmuth.  She recently released these adorable little retro oven boxes and I just about died, they are so cute!  I immediately ordered mine because they would be the perfect party favors for an upcoming craft party I was planning!

Claudine's kit is really easy to print with very clear instructions.  Even though this is not a complicated project, she provides an easy to follow, helpful video tutorial with the kit. 

Here are all my ovens, cut out and ready to be assembled.

Here they are finished.  Aren't they so much fun?!? 

Little potholders can be attached to the front or to the sides.  Some of them have a place to write 'To' and 'From' for gift giving.  The back of the ovens provide a big empty space to write a note, if you like.

One of the best parts?  Cupcakes fit inside!  Cupcakes fit inside!  Did I mention that Cupcakes fit inside?!? holy criminy.  You can put any number of fun things inside, but I went with cupcakes for the win!

Claudine's kit includes an optional cupcake holder and little flags you can personalize.  Since these would be for a craft party, I personalized mine to say 'thanks for crafting'.

It doesn't get much better than a red velvet cupcake in a red paper oven . . .

I have not been this delighted with a craft kit in I don't know how long.  It was just loads of fun to do and the cute factor, obviously, just knocked me out.  They are totally worth the price and I think you need some too!

Sharing at Mop It Up Monday #59 at i should be mopping the floor and at Making the World Cuter Monday at Making the World Cuter.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day I thought I'd share images of what I think of when I think about Ireland.

I think of cliffs and a cold ocean and wind. This is the Cliffs of Moher with O'Brien's Tower at the top. Wouldn't it be amazing to stand up there? It would be pretty amazing.  This picture only shows the top of the cliffs.  They're actually about three times this height!

O'Brien's Tower at the Cliffs of Moher by Ryan Donnell

I think of green, green hills with stone fences. And sheep!  This picture knocks me out and I would love to see this place or one like it in person.

Pastoral Ireland by Jim Richardson, National Geographic

I think of Celtic crosses. No getting around it--they're cool.

Celtic Crosses at the Rock of Cashel by BethanieKay

I think of Dublin and U2 and Snow Patrol and Irish Pubs and Irish Fishermen sweaters and shamrocks.  How could I not think of Shamrocks?

I think of the River Shannon because, apparently, it's what my name is from.  I don't know if I believe that though.  My big brother is named Sean and my mom probably named me Shannon to stick with the Irish thing since we get it from both sides.  I've also never thought pictures of the River Shannon indicated that it was a particularly interesting river, but I think of it anyway.

St. Flannan’s Cathedral (left) on the River Shannon at Killaloe, Ire., by Chris

  And of course I think of castles.  Where to begin with the castles, right?

I guess I could think of politics and famines and mining, but I don't.  I think of Irish dancing and fiddlers and bicycle tours.  I also think of Dubliner cheese from KerryGold because it's yummy and since it's Irish I dig it and I think of Guinness because I love Leif.  Then there're Claddagh rings and Celtic knots and . . . oh yeah . . . Irish movies!  I love me a good Irish flick!  Here are my faves.

Waking Ned Devine

The Commitments

War of the Buttons

I've never seen that cover before, hmmm.  There are probably a couple of Selkie movies in there too.

So, I'm a little bit of a fan of Ireland. What about you?

Happy St. Patrick's Day--Slainte!