Helen Piña, Marketing Manager

August 31, 2011

Holes for lights

Holes for lights

Cutouts

Creating the lampshade

Lighting

This month, Aniden was invited to participate in a silent auction for an AAF-Houston event called the 2011 Trailblazer Award Gala. Within no time, Jody Cochran, a designer at Aniden, turned a cowboy boot into a lamp for the silent auction! Jody named his design “Open Spaces.” Check out the production details below.

1. The fabric was soaked in a kettle with 10 teabags.


2. The lampshade structure was created with 10 gauge copper wire.


3. The holes were created by first fitting the boot with a wooden base inside, then drilling over 100 holes for each light, ultimately wiring and creating lamp supports.


4. Each hole was smoothed with a leather awl and each bulb was pushed through from the inside.


5. The string of Christmas lights was modified to thread through the boot by cutting the cord and extending the power cable with a fuse.


6. The boot was first completely painted in white base primer paint, and then a layer of copper metal flake was applied to the toe and front of the boot.


7. After the paint was dry, the inside of the boot was painted with baby blue paint, highlighting the top edge for when the light spilled out.


8. The title was formed to spell out “Open Spaces” with copper wire, which was attached to the boot’s lampshade.

When we asked the AAF-Houston Chairman, Tami Weitkunat, how the auction went, she replied, “Spectacular!…The lamp was displayed on a pedestal and was lit. The last time I looked at the bid sheet it was up to $350!”