Unique Wax and Resin Tiffany style Lamps & Lampshades from Spectrawax Lighting

Innovative, radical, wax lampshades use a wax and resin laminate, invented by the artist, to create unique, Tiffany style lampshades which are a limited-edition art-works. Glowing wax with an abstract, jazz kaleidoscope twist - the above illustrations show the beauty of light shining through wax.

I have been developing these unusual lampshades since 1980, but it was only with the introduction of low-wattage, low-heat, compact fluorescents in the early nineties that the possibilities really opened up. Also significant was the invention of long-life, durable resins, which means that with oil-paint pigments, these wax lampshades have an indefinite life-span and are the antiques of the future.

Over the years I have used this wax and fibre glass laminate to produce not only wax lampshades, but also chess-sets, backgammon boards, and jewellery.

We provide an individual service to you. If, for any reason, you are not satisfied with our wax lampshades, you can return it, for free, using our own carriers - as long as it is as well packed as it arrived - so always try and keep the packaging until you are fully satisfied. We have now built a brand new 600 sq. ft. workshop in Norwich. and commissions are welcome - please phone 07919 622488 or email thewaxroom@yahoo.co.uk

About The Lamps

The most common comparison is to Tiffany but these shades have no heavy dark lead and they have more detail and intricacy. With beautiful, strong colours they glow more softly than glass and are also lighter than glass.

Candlelight without burning candles! Preserving fossil fuels - don't burn them! Install solar panels, promote electric cars. Use public transport, cycle, walk even! Lift share. Protect and plant trees. Honour the Kyoto agreement. Slow global warming - we don't have much time left!

All shades are signed and dated by myself, Ken Parsons.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. Why don't they melt?
  A. Because of the LED bulbs, which give out plenty of light but little heat. We normally use a 6 watt bulb which gives the equivalent of 60 watts of light. These bulbs also last many times longer than an ordinary tungsten. They cannot be used with dimmer switches.
  
  
• Q. What heat can they withstand?
  A. Up to 60ºC. (157ºF.) air temperature. Avoid direct sunlight and radiant heat from say, gas or electric fires.
  
  
• Q. How long does it take to make the lampshades?
  A. The actual lampshades take about a week -quick time- but the pieces that make up the shade can take several weeks. The shades are 11-layer laminates with the wax as a middle layer. The wax is about 2mm thick.
  
  
• Q. Can the shades be used with ordinary light bulbs?
  A. Only the uplighters, maximum 60 watts.
  
  
• Q. Are they really the only wax lampshades in the world?
  A. Yes, the techniques and materials have been slowly developed over the last 20 years.

About Spectrawax

Winner of 'Best New Decorative Lighting Award' - presented by the British Lighting Association in conjunction with Light Magazine in 1998.

Regional Winner & Finalist in the Scottish 'John Logie Baird Innovations in Science and Technology 1999'.

I have one quite willing assistant, Mike Askew, who is my packaging manager and skilled right-hand man. Below are photos of the inside of our workshop.

"...in keeping with your records for the previous two exhibitions, you sold more work than any of the other 69 makers"
[Laura Hamilton, Curator, Collins Gallery, Glasgow]

"...having dealt with Ken and Spectrawax Lighting for almost four years, my gallery and customers never tire of admiring and purchasing his unique lamps.....a fabulous innovative product"
[Stephanie Sanderson - partner 'Flux Produx', Leith, Edinburgh]

"...the product has a very international appeal. Not only are the lamps bought for their aesthetic quality but for their uniqueness. Time after time, our customers tell us that 'they have never seen anything like them', and are very impressed when told that the shades are WAX!"
[A.V. Herbert à l'Anglais, 1 Rue de la République, Draguignan, France]

The Wax Room

The Wax Room was first shown at the Edinburgh Festival in 2002 attracting over 3000 visitors in 3 weeks, paying £6000 with 4-star reviews and front cover of Orange magazine. Later re-built to be part of the 'Forest' exhibition in Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 2003. I was then commissioned to build a Wax Dome which could fit in smaller galleries and tour to Newtown Art Gallery(Wales), Nottingham Art Gallery and York Art Gallery.

The Wax Room is a 102 Sq. Metre installation made of wax and resin Millefiore designs, backed by a wooden framework supporting over 70 fluorescent tubes' It is an immersive room for up to 30 people comprising a sky with central sun, a Carboniferous Forest Wall, an Ice and Snow Wall, an Ocean Wall and a Desert Wall as well the floor having lava seams and volcanoes. It illustrates 3 different sound and light shows. A team of 3 made it in over 3000 man-hours.

Acknowledgements

Thanks for all their support and encouragement to Mike Askew, Steve Handyside, Matthew Parsons, Bibi Ali Holmes, Dave Parsons, Amber Parsons, Alice Young, Roy Mitchell, Ann Goodburn, Sue Spear, The Hon. Jackie Addison, Tom Harley and Scottish Enterprise Borders, Borders Council, The Royal Bank of Scotland, S.D.A., Borders Craft Association, Bea and Steph at 'Flux', Andrew & Lorraine at 'Digger' Peter & Oona at Warwick Gallery, Michael, Anne, George & Leonie at Fisherton Mill, Mike and Steve, and all those brave souls who have worked for me over the years and shared their music, and all those stores, galleries, and individuals who have liked my work enough to buy it!

Oh, and 'Orange' magazine for putting me on their front cover with 'The Wax Room'.