Contemporary Pendant Chandelier

We have just finished this contemporary pendant chandelier for one of our designers who has seen a chandelier like this, but didn't' like the poor execution of the fixture, plus, it happened to be the wrong size; a problem many interior designers struggle with on daily basis.
I made some changes which I thought would add to the esthetic of this contemporary piece, like square plates under the bone white candles, and a general up-sizing of just about every piece of material we used.  Plus, I thought a squared chain would echo the square candle plates beautifully, not to mention the fact that it would be so much more interesting then that regular Home Depot looking chain everyone uses on chandeliers.  We could have gone for the brushed nickel finish, but the brushed steel looks just as cool, without the extra hefty price tag, so we went with that.  I think it will be a great addition to the beautiful bedroom it's going to be hanging in; can't wait for Lauri to see it.
Most think of Potter Art Metal Studios as beautiful Old World Metalworkers.
I have to say that my guilty pleasure is the contemporary project we get here and there.
What you have to understand is that metal is only pieces of squares, rounds, and flats.  What you do with them is what the final product will look like.  It knows no boundaries between Formal French, Mediterranean, or Contemporary.  It's all in the design and the execution.

written by: Izabela Wojcik

White Rock Lake Weekly: Potters helps luminous Texas landmark shine brighter

After nearly 80 years, Richard Potter of Potter Art Metal Studios will restore the historic ornamental light fixtures his grandfather created for Woodrow Wilson High School when it first opened in the late 1920s. Potter's grandfather originally created 40 unique pieces out of bronze, copper and brass – a project valued at approximately $4,000. Today, the cost of refinishing and rebuilding the antique light fixtures is approximately $101,500. 

A significant job lies ahead for this White Rock Lake area resident as Potter works to restore all 40 pieces that date back to the 20s. Of these 40 historic fixtures, he will have to recreate seven of them completely because they have been broken or stolen. It will take three highly skilled ironworkers a total of 160 hours to rebuild just one lantern from scratch, and the entire project is expected to take six months.

For four generations spanning 90 years, the Potter family has been the inspiration of the finest metal artisans in the Southwest. Today, Richard Potter carries on the legacy left to him by his grandfather, who opened the business in 1920 when his lantern-making hobby outgrew his backyard and led him to design many recognizable iron and bronze designs throughout the city. Potter has continued the family tradition at Potter Art Metal Studios, designing and building hand-wrought artistic metal products in iron, bronze, brass and aluminum, using techniques and processes that many consider to be “lost arts.” In fact, his three 20-something triplets now have a hand in the business, learning the craft of their great-grandfather. These traditional methods allow the fabrication of one-of-a-kind, beautiful and authentic representations of styles gone past, like those historic fixtures that adorn Woodrow.

Potter is known for having a big heart for Dallas history. On more than one occasion he has donated his services to fix the ironwork and lighting around the city, all in an effort to help retain the city’s beautiful architecture and charm. In addition to the restoration for Woodrow, Potter’s team is completing a similar project for J. L. Long Middle School, however there currently is no budget for restoring some pieces in the auditorium. It is estimated that $50,000 needs to be raised, or the historic fixtures will be replaced with basic functional lighting and a piece of East Dallas history will be lost forever. Potter currently is involved in getting a formal fund set up to collect contributions, which would save the fixtures. 

For now it’s “lights out” at Woodrow, but soon Richard will turn the lights back on, re-igniting Woodrow’s legacy as a luminous Texas landmark that holds a place in the hearts of many Woodrow alum as well as the East Dallas community. Only time will tell if J. L. Long’s historic fixtures will be restored.


by Shelby Menczer
1st week of March 2012
Read more: White Rock Lake Weekly - Potters helps luminous Texas landmark shine brighter 

Woodrow Wilson Light Fixture Restoration

I thought I'd give you guys a visual on the light fixtures for Woodrow Wilson, because they look amazzzing!  We are in the middle of all our restoration efforts and so now I happen to have the before and some of the after photos.  And, thanks to the story Rachel Stone form the Advocate put together for all the fabulous readers out there, we might be able to save the auditorium light fixtures too!  I am sooo extremely happy right now because it would be such a shame to replace the beautiful flight fixtures with off the shelf pieces.

So here's the scoop... We were asked to restore the light fixtures form Woodrow and JL Long; below is a photo of two of the many Woodrow light fixtures before our restoration efforts.  Some of the light fixtures just needed some TLC, some were missing pieces, some were warped, and a few were totally missing.
(click on the photos to enlarge)

 

Richard and I went over to inspect the light fixtures and thought they were just amazing!  So much potential behind what the time has done to the poor things which Richard's grandfather originally built in the 30s.  One of the lights that we got super excited about were the chandeliers hanging in the auditorium of JL Long.  The grand light fixtures were something else!  After all, it's not like you get to see a beautiful, large, Art Deco chandelier ever day.

Since there are quite a few of them in the auditorium, the overall visual is just spectacular.  Unfortunately, we found out shortly after that we most likely won't be restoring the fixtures, but instead they will be replaced with these:

I almost had a heart attack when I saw the piece of paper with the proposed light fixtures!  Not that there is anything wrong with them, but why put beautifully crafted, custom made piece of history in the trash and replace it with off the shelf fixtures wich are not nearly as impressive as what is there in the first place?  Both JL Long and Woodrow have great history behind them, and lots of really neat people who have fond memories of their school went there like Trammel Crow Sr.  Surely the lights can be saved...

Well, I'm happy to say that apparently the article caused quite a bit of stir and now something might be in the works to save the fixtures after all!!!

I certainly do hope so.  We are working as hard and as carefully as we can to restore these fixtures to their original glory and would like to thank all the other people involved in the restoration of Woodrow and JL Long, from the stone mason to the woodworker repairing the windows, so that future generations in the world of cookie cutter can enjoy the hard work, the beauty of real artistry, and historical significance of yesterday.  So, to give you an idea as to how spectacular all these lights will look like when the school is restored, here are a few shots of the in progress as well as finished light fixtures I promised:)

A bit of history about Woodrow from Wikipedia:

Designed by noted Dallas architect Mark Lemmon, the school opened in 1928 and was constructed in the Elizabethan style.^[7] At the cornerstone-laying ceremony in April 1927, a piece of the wedding cake of Woodrow Wilson's second daughter, Jessie, was included in the cornerstone "in memory of Mr. Wilson."^[8] At US$700,000, the school's cost exceeded that of the district's previous four high schools by at least $100,000.^[9]

written by: Izabela Wojcik