About 90 percent of Jonathan Rachman's interior design work includes a custom component. "Custom pieces are essential to adding personality," he says. So when his lighting needs call for a fixture that's steampunk, industrial or "funky and a little off," Rachman knows exactly whom to turn to: Robert Clink of Revelation.

The two have been collaborating for several years now. Clink - who has a background in musical theater, television and voice-over work - likens their association to a "beautiful duet."

Their partnership goes beyond the lighting that Clink fashions for Rachman: Clink's Mill Valley home furnishings boutique, also named Revelation, carries Rachman's collection of global finds. Clink and his wife, interior designer Michelle Bevilacqua, opened the store in the fall of 2011. A number of Rachman and Clink's luminary efforts can be purchased through the shop.

"Sometimes I find objects," says Rachman, "and I tell Robert, 'This is my vision. Can you do it?' He'll let me know if it can be done technically."

Clink has also been known to offer input to help flesh out a concept. Case in point: Rachman brought Clink some fencing masks that he wanted to transform into sconces. "It seemed like the natural thing to do," says the interior designer. "But instead, Robert took a few of them to make a cluster - a pendant lamp. And I love it."

According to Rachman, he has yet to bring Clink an object that he couldn't convert into a light fixture. "He just doesn't give up on an idea," says Rachman.

The initial step in the conversion process requires ascertaining the object's role in the overall design. Says Clink: "One must decide whether the object used will be integral in the light, an accessory featured by the light, or if the object will simply be a small part of a larger whole." For a Three Musketeers fencing-mask chandelier, for example, the artifacts that Rachman delivered were integral to the scheme.

"I can generally close my eyes and see it," Clink says of the design development. "I can break down the elements in my head, figure out the materials needed and then start building." Sketches and elevations are not always necessary.

According to Rachman, a shared work ethic has been pivotal in the duo's relationship. "We're designers and artists," he says. "It's not brain surgery or rocket science. But because we've been commissioned by a client to design an object or a space, we take it very seriously."