quincylampshades

People often ask me how I feel when I teach lampshade-making to individuals who then go on to make and sell their own lampshades. They ask me if I’m giving away my secrets and how I feel about the competition. Thing is: I don’t mind. We all know very little about a lot, and a lot about something. My something is lampshades and I want to share my skills and knowledge. Not everyone who attends a lampshade-making course at The Makery or has one-to-one tuition with me intends to set up business, but some do. I feel pleased and proud to help them on their way.

My first ever student was Maya Wilson, who runs her own interior decoration and fabric design company – Source. With me, she made a beautiful lampshade featuring her bird design fabric. Maya has gone on to produce her own select range of lampshades.

Maya Wilson - Source

Next was Gillian Goodman who wanted to offer her clients at Tala Valley Upholstery a bespoke lampshade-making service. Here is her first ever made-to-order shade. It’s rather lovely.

Gillian Goodman - Tala Valley

Most recently, Naomi Mcindoe, passionate and skilled in the art of papercutting, wanted to bring her papercuts to life as lampshades. So she came to me to learn some basic skills and do some experimenting. We were both chuffed to bits with the results. Naomi is in the very early stages of setting up business and I’m sure that with work like this she’s going to do well.

Mrs Mcindoe