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n regards to the craft of making lamps, what I find so appealing is that each lamp gives me the opportunity to indulge in a variety of my favorite interests:
-drawing, and drafting; -Metal fabrication and patination; -wood staining and finishing; -joint construction, lamination and assembly work; -wood turning; -and finally carving. The work is dynamic in that its demands and rewards vary with each process. Some are stimulating and challenging, while others, like the repetitive motions of carving and scraping, set you free into a world of rhythm and meditation.
"When you deeply enjoy something your mind is graced with the presence of the moment."
Shawn Phillips
tagnaro Lamps is a small shop located in West Sonoma County where the vineyards meet the redwoods in the Russian River Appellation.
With an abundance of plant and animal life, insiration for carving can be found almost anywhere.
orn in 1950 in Oakland, California, I received formal training in the arts with classes in sculpture, wood- working, painting and printmaking at Diablo Valley College.
I took from my college experience some skills in etching, shared a studio with the stained glass artist Eilene Fordyce and began printmaking. This was an opportunity to advance drawing and composition skills and explore the spontaneity of line that etching permits. It also allowed me to reach a wider audience and made it possible to keep the fruits of my hard work by retaining my proofs while parting with the editions.
In 1986 I began carving, an art form 18o degrees from etching. Whereas in etching images are created below the surface, in carving they are
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raised above the surface. And as for being able to keep copies, in carving it's all one-of-a-kind. But having spent time raising a family and watching as they went off into the world, I have become tempered to the inevitable of having to say goodbye to things you love and have labored over.
On-the-job training came with a three year apprenticeship under the master craftman David Marks. Host for several years of the television show "Woodworks" on the DIY network, David provided for a wonderful learning opportunity. Always patient to explain and generous with his personal wealth of information, David's shop was an ideal place to develope skills and a love for wood.
Art is a natural response for me when experiencing something pleasing. Whether it be music, the visual arts or even food, when I come across something that moves me - I want to reexperience the original pleasure all over again, but with a deeper personal involvement -from the inside out so to speak - by creating it myself.
In particular, carving, allows for a tactile experience of the subject and I feel brings it to the viewer in a way that we are used to seeing it; in three
dimensional form. It is challenging because it is a subtractive art. The material can only be removed with no opportunity to put it back.
The subject matter of the carvings is usually taken
from plant forms found around the area, something
that is always there but taken for granted as mere
background. One of the values I find in art lies in its
potential to frame or isolate our experience. By
placing it in a frame, whether that be the literal one
of a painting or the side of a lamp, it gives us pause
to experience for a focused moment our
surrounding world. Like walking with a friend who
stops to point out something of beauty, art is a way of sharing the experience.
A Personal View On Art and its Subject.
S
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