How do you make wood look like paper? If you’re lamp designer Sarah Foote, you turn ash veneer into pieces that resemble confetti. Her bespoke lamps are inspired by nature and food, as the names would clearly indicate: you can choose from Hydrangea, Seaweed, and Spaghetti Lamps. The trick of all of these lighting beauties is in the detailed miniaturization and decadent assemblage. Like origami, the delicate shapes of Foote’s lamps reveal the patient hand behind the construction.

Spaghetti Lamp. Designed by Sarah Foote.

Handmade Ash Veneer Hanging Lamps

Hydrangea is made from hundreds of hand-stamped ash veneer circles. The standard size of the pendant lamp is 16” by 14”, though you can request other sizes, since it is a custom order. When Hydrangea is not lit, the lamp looks like its namesake in full bloom, with all the round white forms clustered in thin layers. Once lit, Hydrangea changes dramatically, as the golden hue makes the ash transform. Now, the lamp picks up color, and the round cut-outs stand out: the whole effect is one of pointillism.

Another of Foote’s fixtures takes its cue from the culinary world. Spaghetti Lamp pieces together thin veneer strips atop a wooden frame. This piece comes standard with a 15’ cord, though it can be hardwired upon request. The ash is not stained, but it is treated to prevent discoloration. The standard size of Spaghetti Lamp is 13” wide by 16” high. When the lamp is not lit up, it looks nest-like. When lit, however, this lamp almost becomes spaghetti, since the yellow glow of the bulb turns the ash the exact color of pasta. Either way, Spaghetti Lamp revels in its layering. The accumulation of thin ash strips resembles a complex network of roads where each street leads into another in a dizzying labyrinth of strata.

Hydrangea Lamp. Designed by Sarah Foote.

Hydrangea Lamp and Spaghetti Lamp. Designed by Sarah Foote.

Via Chictip.

About the Manufacturer: Sarah Foote has been designing and producing lamps for ten years, the reason being because “she loves lighted-up things.” Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Sarah now lives and works in Brooklyn. The designer also has an admitted penchant for “every color in the rainbow, wooden things, flowers and floral patterns, cake, rhubarb, tartlets…”—the list goes on, but I’ll stop with the baked goods.