John Stacy & Shirl Ireland

How does one move through a home, what do you see, what do you want to see, how does what you see affect how you feel?  As lighting designers and builders of custom lighting fixtures those are some of the things we think about.  A bright light allows you to see what you are doing while creating a family dinner, but it may also be seen as a focal point over the island and needs to be beautiful.  A wall sconce by a bed is used to read a book before sleeping or make an entry into a journal, but does it fit the aesthetic of the room and set a mood.  The light from a chandelier illuminates a great room or family room, but is also an opportunity to be a beautiful center piece of art as well.  Beautiful, yet functional, and it affects how you see everything else in a home.  A specific fixture to cast a certain light to help you live well.

 

Over the past 20+ years we have thoughtfully collaborated with homeowners, designers and architects with vision to create beautiful, functional, lighting fixtures for private homes and commercial projects of distinction.  Anticipating how a space is to be used dictates how a lighting fixture performs, and the style of the room steers us toward a shape and the materials used to create our lights.  Does the space have high ceilings, are there windows and views, what materials are used in the construction of the room, and what is the purpose of the room?

 

Beginning our lighting career in the Adirondack mountains of New York there was a strong vernacular of design inspired by nature.  We were immersed in nature.  Birch bark, river stones, leaves, roots, branches and many more natural materials found a use in our work.  Shirl incorporated oil paintings onto appropriate pieces and John created bronzes to add elegance.  The materials affected the shapes and designs we created, and tied the fixtures to the place.  The quality of light was always a priority and we created different lighting affects by playing with a variety of transparent and translucent materials…parchment, glass, mica, handmade paper, leaves, hand blown glass, even cloth could change the quality and color of light.

 

For the past ten years we have lived and worked in Montana and the look is different – the materials are different.  We use leather, copper, studs, stones from the Yellowstone river, driftwood, juniper, and antiques of the west to reflect the aesthetic of the mountains here.  But we aren’t limited by anything.  The west is also modern – mountain modern, and we have reflected that vibe in our designs as well with contemporary flowing shapes to create inviting sitting areas with soothing, inviting light.  The task determines the design, and the aesthetics of the home dictate the look of a piece. 

 

We have built lights for homes all across the country to set the mood for some amazing homes:  New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, DC, Washington State, Montana, Idaho, California, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Michigan, Wisconsin to name some.  We have been fortunate to work with some super talented crafts people, designers, architects, and builders in the trades, as well as creative, successful clients that want a home that reflects their values.  I wonder what we’ll do next.

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