When I swim, occasionally I find pieces of wood, jarrah, only found in Western Australia, on the floor of the ocean. Jarrah was often used for building boats and jetties and when these needed replacing the wood was often jettisoned into the ocean. The jarrah I find has been sculpted by the sea and sea worms for many decades, perhaps even a hundred years, into uniquely artistic shapes. I am so excited when I find a jarrah piece, it is as if I have found treasure. I treasure the inherent beauty and uniqueness, they are truely wonderful. I take these jarrah pieces home and leave them outside to dry out. They can sit in my backyard for a long time until inspiration strikes and I suddenly have an idea for how I want to use them. Two of my jarrah pieces I decided to use as the body for lamps. My preference for living or lounge rooms is lamplight rather than the more brutal overhead ceiling lights. Everything I used to make my lamps was either found, like in the ocean, or recycled. Lampshades I found in Op Shops (Opportunity or Charity shops). Although we may not believe it, all of us have a creative side. It’s not just me that can have a go and find a creative use for something. To make my lamps I sought advice for the hard bits such as putting a channel through the centre of the jarrah and for safety I had them checked by an electrician. Being my first lamps I learnt an enormous amount. In terms of design, for future lamps I now would make the base more robust. Not only did I have the pleasure of creating something useful and unique, my lamps cost me next to nothing, apart from time and effort.
Living well on a shoestring 