Good lighting is essential when you do a lot of close up work. When I moved in to my studio 5 years ago, I had a suspended double fluoro installed above my work table to make sure that the work space was well lit. But even with this central light, tasks lights were still needed at every station around the table. Having a suspended light seemed like a good idea at the time but with light only hitting the tables, the rest of the room was dark. And with so many cables and cords dangling from the ceiling, it looked untidy. But today, all that has changed. I had an electrician install two new ceiling lights which are flush mounted to the ceiling.  I am quite impressed with how much light they give off and as I sit here at my computer, I am amazed that the light is reaching this far. You can see that I still have the power cords dangling from the ceiling (for power at the work tables) but it's much tidier now without the cables suspending the old lightfitting. But the best part of these ......

It's just 3 days before I jet out to LA for the CHA Winter Trade Show and Conference and I'm working on the finishing touches for my Designer Showcase at the moment. Each Show I tease you with some sneak peeks of my showcase but you never get to actually see the final display and this year is no different. But instead of teasing you this time, I' sharing photos of one of the pieces on my Showcase as I make it. You might recall the posts about the LED light strings that decorated my dining room last year for my birthday dinner bash. If not, you can check them out here . I'm going to put those lights to use as a decorative feature on my showcase this year by dressing them up a little. Originally, I thought I'd change the colour because they are quite a bright purple. It would have been easy enough to do - a swipe with methylated spirits would have removed the alcohol ink. But I've decided that the purple works quite well with my "all black and white" the......