Home favorites
Accessorize with modern dishware, retro lights and midcentury clocks that do more than tick.
Vintage lights
Barn Light Electric started as a weekend hobby for Bryan and Donna Scott. On weekends, the couple would visit antique stores and estate sales, and poke around abandoned buildings in search of old barn-style lights, which they later rewired, restored and sold on the side.
In 2008, with three children and a concern about the economy, the Scotts left their full-time careers (air marshal and nurse) to start Barn Light Electric in Titusville, Fla. The company has attracted a following for its American-made, retro-style light fixtures, which include barn pendants, goosenecks and sconces.
Current best-sellers include the Original Warehouse Pendant ($99) and the Original Warehouse Gooseneck ($168). With its classic style, the gooseneck can be customized in more than nine finishes. Use it indoors or out.
Recently, the company launched its newest line of commercial-grade, porcelain enamel lighting ($120 to $330). Once popular, porcelain enamel lighting died out with the advent of faster and cheaper painting techniques. The Scotts have brought it back.
Visit www.barnlightelectric.com or the company’s retail showroom,
3405 S. Washington Ave., in Titusville (near Orlando and the Kennedy Space Center).
Time out
In an earlier life, Steve (aka Stevo) Cambronne worked as a telephone repairman, then as a ski instructor in Colorado. While browsing one day in a Denver bookstore, Cambronne discovered a book about Alexander Calder, the American sculptor. And he had an aha moment.
Inspired by Calder’s colorful, abstract work, Cambronne and Beverly (now his wife and partner in art) started making metal jewelry and sculpture. The self-taught artists later moved to Hiawassee, where Beverly’s parents had a home, before settling in Marietta.
Now 58, the longtime metal artist remains enthusiastic about his one-of-a-kind pieces, which include clocks, plus bar and kitchen art. A while back, Cambronne added tiki art (shag, anyone?) to his retro-modern collection. Prices range from $350 to $500.
With its midcentury style, the lightweight, multidimensional wall art has become a hit at art festivals and at modernism shows, such as those in Palm Springs and Denver.
Check stevotomic.com or call 770-971-5633. Also find him on Facebook at steveotomic. Cambronne will be at the acclaimed Festival of the Masters Nov. 9-11 at Downtown Disney in Orlando.
P.S. Consider springing for a new clock when daylight saving time ends Nov. 4.
Dish up
After high school in Jacksonville, Mark Warren and Chris Pence went separate ways. Warren went to Connecticut College and after graduation studied slip casting at the Penland (N.C.) School of Crafts. Pence headed for the College of Charleston in South Carolina, then to the University of Florida for an accounting degree. He later worked as a CPA for a large accounting firm.
In 2011, the friends pooled their skills and started Haand, which makes minimal and elegant objects, such as bowls, for everyday use.
The two-man company is housed in an old farmhouse in the rolling hills near Durham, N.C. In their efforts to go “green,” Warren and Pence use rainwater (said to be ideal for slip casting because of its high pH) and a passive solar energy system to dry their molds. Their kilns are fired with propane. And on their property, they dig and refine some red clay used in their porcelain bowls.
With a higher back wall that allows you to easily scoop ice cream, Haand’s white ice cream bowls are a best seller. The modern, unique-shaped bowls are $40 each or $99 for a set of three. Other products include the cloudware bowls ($35 to $75) and the Squares + Triangles nesting set. Based on a square subdivided into triangles, a three-piece set is $120. A seven-piece set is $195.
Coming soon is a coffee set, which will include mugs ($25) and a 12-ounce creamer ($30). Learn more at haand.us.
Best of the South
Do you have favorite finds from around the South that you give as gifts, buy for your home or rave about to friends? If so, please share them with us. Send your suggestions to: ljerkins@bellsouth.net. Please include your name and contact number.
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