We are thrilled that The Ada chandelier by Lisa Ellis for Hawthorne House is debuting at High Point this week in the Hable for Hickory Chair showroom galleries. In the lead up to its debut, we wanted to share the back story of how this beautiful light came to fruition and a little bit about its fabrication.
The idea came about while Lisa Ellis was designing Hugh Acheson’s new restaurant, The Florence, in Savannah. The restaurant is located in what was a 19th-century ice factory, which had amazing blue industrial glass windows. Lisa wanted to incorporate lighting into the design of the restaurant that brought to life the glass’ iridescent quality and icy blue color. Because of the project’s timeline, the Ada chandelier was never produced for The Florence--it took a later collaboration between Susan Hable and Lisa Ellis to bring the design to life.
Susan Hable wanted impactful lighting for the 2015 Spring High Point Furniture Market debut of her furniture line, Hable for Hickory Chair. She was looking for something large, colorful, and geometric for the Hickory Chair showroom. While concepting lighting ideas for The Florence, Lisa stumbled upon the work of talented glassblower Philip Vinson, a craftsman of mouth-blown glass Christmas ornaments in complex geometric shapes. The collaboration that Lisa had envisioned with Philip found a fit with Susan Hable.
Lisa and Philip figured out how to translate his delicate approach into something larger and more suitable for lighting. Working with three-dimensional paper models, Lisa mocked up the design of the Ada to determine the size and shape of the glass pieces. Philip then utilized Lisa’s digital files to create the molds used to blow each piece of glass.
Upon visiting Philip in his studio, Lisa realized the infinite possibilities of glass blowing. The prototypes at High Point represent two different glass blowing processes--transparent and luster. The luster process binds a powdered glass containing silver to the surface of the glass which migrates outwards to create an effervescent finish. The transparent process encases colored glass during the blow process and then layers it on top.
The Ada chandelier is available through Hawthorne House. The Ada is produced in 20” or 36” diameters, in German Silver or Rich Gold metal finishes. The luster glass gems are available in blue, gold, and green. The clear glass gems are available in auburgine, emerald green and steel gray. Custom finishes and sizes are also possible.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Lisa Ellis has designed numerous bespoke fixtures for both commercial and residential clients. Although the Ada chandelier is her first light fixture available to both the public and the trade, attention to lighting quality and detail has been a large focus for Lisa for many years. Before she began full-time practice as an interior designer over a decade ago, Lisa co-owned and operated a production company for 20+ years specializing in commercial photography, set design, and specialty post-production effects. Lisa started making lighting in 2003, the year she opened Hawthorne House. At the time, she was importing numerous containers of antiques and architectural salvage from Great Britain and Europe and quickly amassed a number of spare bits and parts that she used in her early lighting projects. Lisa has additional lighting concepts in progress and looks forward to producing a full collection in the near future.
