This was my second major project. 

One evening, while sitting on the porch with my good friend Justin—who is also an English teacher—our discussion turned (as it often does) to literature and then specifically to Fitzgerald’s masterpiece. Justin’s fortunate, in that he gets to teach The Great Gatsby every year, so I asked him (although I already knew the answer) if he would ever get tired of teaching his Gatsby unit. He, as expected, said "no," which then led to an extended discussion on why that was. At some point, we began to discuss the novel's ending, and in particular, the closing sentences. Our conclusion was that those must be the greatest closing lines of any novel, ever. Poetically phrased, summative in their assessment of Gatsby and—by extension—America itself, and (while wholly satisfying) evocative in their ability to capture what it means to yearn for something that will remain—always and forever—just beyond our individual and collective grasps. 

With that experience fresh in my mind, I sat out to capture what I could with this project. This spool was the best preserved of the Mobile lot. Structurally, it's rock-solid and the wood is absolutely pristine. I stained it with a light Summer Oak and, with this project in mind, painted the concave spindle washers with a Hammered Gold spray-paint. The top and base measure 30 inches across and—with 4 inch legs—it now stands 25 inches high. 

The best way, I thought to capture, the concept of the "green light," and all it signifies, was to actually include a green light. The former was accomplished, as it had been with the Original, by cutting the base off a Jameson bottle. This time, however, I stood the bottle upright, so that it might better replicate what the light at the end of Daisy's dock would have looked like to Gatsby, himself, as he stared across the bay. In combination, the two provide more-than-ample light to read by. Because the spool itself is much larger than the Original, I wasn't sure if that lamp, alone, would provide sufficient light to read by, so I added a stand-alone lamp that pivots (according to one's needs) to whichever side one places his or her favorite reading chair. 

The lamp's fixtures are 1/2 inch black malleable iron. The green light component is 24 inches high, which then makes the table's total height 49 inches. The green lamp has its own on/off rocker and the secondary lamp has a stand-alone switch, so each can be turned off or on separately. 

While our dog Binx, pictured just to the right, is fond of reading by its light most nights, I couldn't get him to pick-up a book for this particular picture.   

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