monts et cristaux - light that dazzles

I’ve been enamored since I first saw a Monts et Cristaux chandelier hanging above the gorgeous porcelain at 3 Femmes et 1 Coussin. I loved the color, the sparkle, and the whimsy the vintage crystal fixture brought to the room.

Finally, more than a year later, I’ve met its creator, Maryline Scaviner, who has created chandeliers for kitchens, dining rooms, restaurants, and even a prestigious French aperitif.

Maryline built her first chandelier five years ago. Recently arrived in Montreal from Africa, and working as an interior designer, she missed the lush colors of the distant continent. When she couldn’t find a lighting fixture that pleased her, she created one.

Another designer saw it, asked her to build one, and her company, Monts et Cristaux, was born.

Then as now, Maryline sees each project as a chance to explore. “I build according to inspiration,” she says.

Slim and smiling in black boots and fine, silver hair, Maryline showed me the beginnings of a traditional chandelier. Hanging in the corner of her rue Bellechase atelier is a silver hook fastened to a fist-sized metal disc, and a slender wand with a knob at the bottom.

Within days, these meager beginnings would be hidden beneath a center column, from which she would add a half dozen upswept arms, tapered columns holding clear bulbs, and graceful sweeps of crystal pendants, beads and attenuated drops.

Color comes next. It is Maryline’s muse as she hand-dyes European crystal to match a room’s decor. A striking green chandelier called “Le Vert” contains a multitude of beaded ropes that glimmer as they spill from bobeches - patterned glass bowls that hold the lamps. Small pearls stud the ropes, and reflect soft white light, in contrast to the shimmering chartreuse pendants suspended below them.

Where the preferred style is modern, materials lean toward industrial: chainmail, recycled aluminum, LED lights. Forms are crisp and linear - a column of glittering crystal, for instance, suspended from a laser-cut aluminum crown and illuminated from within by a round white bulb.

This personalized approach to lighting makes Maryline the go-to person for interior decorators throughout North America. Her clients live as far away as Florida and British Columbia.

In the dining room of Le Cosmos, a Quebec restaurant and bar, she strung 1000 crystals of different sizes and colors around an antique Spanish chandelier.

To pay homage to Andy Warhol, she created five chandeliers, each three feet wide and five feet tall, dripping with wooden beads and metal chains painted fuschia, orange, purple, turquoise.

“Crystal is a noble material,” says Maryline. But what I see is dazzling color, and unexpected beauty.

Have you seen Maryline’s work? Tell us what you think!