Cleardrops is a bespoke series of cast resin pendants in 2 sizes created for a private residential project in Ibiza. The concept for Cleardrops was to create a series of jewel like objects that could be hung as groups of 30 in total within a series of large pine trees on a poolside terrace. The idea was that these clear ‘jewels’ would hang in the trees and catch the sun by day and then illuminate the terrace via a 2200k concealed led light source delivering different sized pools of light depending on their hanging height.
Cleardrops are cast in 2 sizes and each one contains either dried grasses gathered locally here in the south of France or fragments of razor shell, oyster shell and abalone sourced from the sand dunes of Gruissan by my son with his fishing net, paid of course! Each piece is unique in form through hand finishing and polishing and the placement of the grasses or shells.
The first prototype was cast in our studio using a hand poured silicon mould. This sample was hung on site for client approval and then the design was finalised and we began to work with Stoane Lighting to turn our idea into a product. They suggested we work with Midton Acrylics who are specialists in cast resins and a zoom meeting was set up to explain our concept and decide on a way to turn our prototype into a fitting we could make in volume.
The body of each fitting is cast in optically clear resin and the shells or grasses are set in by hand at this stage. A thread is then turned on to the top of each fitting to allow the lighting element to be attached. The top section made by Stoane lighting contains a 2200k Cree XPE 1.45w emitter mounted on a heat sink and set within a hand turned brass cap, the cable is secured by a hidden IP67 cable gland. The brass is left in its raw state to allow it to patinate and blend with the tree bark. This is hung on an 8 metre hemp cable. Each drop is hung from the branch of the tree and wrapped around at the top to secure it. The cable from each fitting is then hand plaited in the tree by a local ropemaker and then the resulting rope which ends up around 40mm diameter, wraps its way down the trunk to a hidden power supply. Each fitting gives 110 lumens before any losses from the shells and grasses.
Cleardrops has been a fantastic product for us and we have really enjoyed the process from concept to installation. Working with Stoane Lighting and Midton Acrylic has been a pleasure.
