Industrial tubing and scavenged glass
The Gardening chandeliers begin with the simplest of industrial materials: brass tubing — the kind you might find in a hardware store — bent by hand into branching, calligraphic arms. Each arm ends in a candelabra socket. The wiring is run internally, the joints are finely finished, and the whole is balanced so it hangs level and light.
What makes each piece unrepeatable is the glass. Westergren works with artisans and with scavenged vintage glass — the decorative fruits and flowers that were once ubiquitous in mid-century homes. Those objects, once considered “out of style” and déclassé, are re-fired, altered, and suspended anew. Grapes, lemons, lily trumpets and daisies are hung on near-invisible filaments at different heights, so the chandelier reads like a drawing in space.
A still life exploded into air
The reference point is Flemish still life at its most exuberant — those impossibly lavish tables where tulips, berries and citrus appear together though they could never be in season at once. Westergren treats the chandelier as that same kind of studio bouquet, but freed from the tabletop. Fruits and blossoms are scattered into the air; their shadows move with the light.
Among them drift the glass bees — dozens of tiny, amber-dotted insects hovering on gilded wire. They are a private signature. They speak to fertility and pollination, but also to the endless, cyclical nature of making itself: a reminder that the studio is a kind of garden, tended over years.
The delicate glass bees that hover on gilded wire among the fruits and flowers remind us of both the role of fertility in the cycle of life and the endless cycles of creativity in the artistic endeavor.
From sketch to ceiling
- Consultation — Room dimensions, ceiling height, and light. Photographs and, when possible, a site visit.
- Palette & sketch — Charlotta proposes a palette and a branching geometry, with glass selections laid out in the studio.
- Fabrication — Brass is bent and finished, glass is blown or sourced, wiring is tested. Each pendant is placed by eye.
- Finish & balance — The chandelier is hung in the studio, lit, and tuned so no single element dominates.
- Crating & installation — Custom crate, freight coordination, and — in the NYC area — installation with Charlotta present to dress the piece in situ.
Every chandelier is wired for a standard US junction box, uses E12 candelabra bulbs, and is dimmable. The brass can be left bright or allowed to mellow to a softer patina.