Eclectic collections to enliven rooms

Many of us decorate by evolution, adding new finds as we come across them or as our budget allows. Forever pieces, however, are great investments. If your idea of a forever piece has been something simple that blends in and will match anything always, you’re basically insuring your rooms will be so-so forever. Why not go with something that visually excites you every time you walk into a room?

One great light fixture, one great rug, a statement piece of furniture and one great piece of art provide a different atmosphere than many smaller pieces and provide an opportunity to do more with less. C&C Electric and Lighting at 2430 Line Avenue in Shreveport is a great place to start defining your design vision. C&C has a galaxy of restored antique fixtures, but owner Gale Simmons has also added a gallery featuring local and regional artists. The gallery, connected by walkway to the main space, is a well-done urban space like you’d stumble into in Austin or NOLA. Still, Simmons maintains, “We’re not fancy. We’re more service-oriented than we are sales-oriented. Our pricing is based on what we find and what we put into it.”

The gallery features three permanent artists in one room and guests artists in a three-month rotation. The art has been carefully selected and beautifully displayed. “We showcase the artists in special shows throughout the year,” Simmons said.

Ellen Blanchard (ellenblanchard.com) coordinates the art gallery and is one of the permanent artists on display. Her abstracts are full of color and texture and mix well with the types of furniture and fixtures in the showroom. Her florals have a vintage impressionistic quality about them. Sara Jane Swanson with Art by Nature is also one of the permanent artists on display. Her work is defined by nature but with a good use of detail and color that again, mixes well with and pops out of the overall vibe of Simmons’ shop.

Patrick Sart (Shields) is another permanent artist from New Orleans who has built up a heavy following in Shreveport-Bossier. His brightly colored, chunky-textural scenes of life in New Orleans beckon those in love with urban-southern life.

Simmons has also added a carefully curated collection of vintage funky art accent pieces, both small and large. Antique harvest barrels and olive baskets mix with oyster baskets and other odd pieces. “These balloon molds from India are probably from the sixties,” Simmons said, pointing to rectangular pieces of wood with rows and rows of pegs sticking off of them. “They’d dip them into a vat of latex or rubber. They’d peel them off and you’d have balloons. But people are hanging them on the walls now, and they are great statement pieces.”

Even so, it is a walk through the main showroom that will take your breath away. Glittering light fixtures in just about every size and style suspend from the ceilings in a stellar performance. What is unique about C&C is that almost all of the fixtures are original. “When you come here, you’re not buying a fixture out of a box,” Simmons said. “So if you saw this piece (a rust-finished iron fixture) and you said, ‘I like it, but I want it red with crystals on it,’ we can take it down and do that.”

Lighting is an icon of good design, important for both function and form, both mood and movement. Light fixtures as sculptural art pieces make a huge difference in the overall design. When crafting a space with atmosphere, consider a wonderful old light fixture as art.

The store has a good selection of statement lighting pieces made from iron and wire, with or without crystals, such as a sculptural willow branch piece that is cocoon-like. One iron bamboo-style Chippendale piece would live well over a breakfast table. One large heavy French or Italian antique rust-colored piece is only $500. Simmons pointed out a black iron fixture that had been converted from some type of antique farm tool into a sleek industrial piece perfect for a kitchen. “This is an iron lathe fixture, and it is one of the best old iron machinery pieces I’ve seen,” she said.

Simmons said to just think about your space and the textures that are there already before shopping for art and fixtures. “If you have wood walls, floors and beams, look for an iron fixture. If you already have iron and stone, put a wood piece with it.”

C&C Electric and Lighting will feature another art show in October after adding three new artists to the rotation. For more information, call (318) 424-4406 or visit http:// ccelectriclighting.com.

– Susan Reeks