Luminettes from Joline El-Hai aka Night Lights

New work is arriving from our recent trip to Philadelphia for the Buyers Market of American Craft. The first to appear is night lights from Bella Luz made by Joline El-Hai. Joline is from Seattle and makes "luminettes" from translucent prints and copper frames. The image is a print of her original color pencil and pastel on paper artwork.

Joline speaks about her work and her inspiration:

As a child I would sit on our back porch in the late afternoon sun, sewing sequins onto scraps of black velvet. The effect of the dramatic light and glowing colors fascinated me, and it is this love of color combined with light that still inspires my artwork. Since 1975, I have created works with glass. I like to take flat pieces of colored glass, paint them, fire and fuse them, glue found objects onto them, lead them together and set them in embellished wooden frames with lights inside to create richly colored and textured light-boxes. I think of them as scenes from a theater that one might dream about. My wall sconces, night-lights ("luminettes" as I call them) and other lighting products are miniature versions of my glass light boxes, though the materials are very different. The Bella Luz line of luminettes and lamps start out as drawings ...pastel, colored pencil, and watercolor. These are photographed and reproduced as translucent photographic prints. The images are then housed in fancifully shaped copper frames that have been hand-textured, colored by patina, and illuminated by light bulbs. I also enjoy making jewelry, gardening, and raising my daughter Sarina.