Welcome to the rebellious blog of an obsessively overly perfectionistic artist, who is compelled to create and occasionally write about the proccess.
Do artists really have to be crazy to create? Perhaps not, but the water is warm, so dive in and find out!
"Be
a good craftsman; it won't stop you being a genius." - Auguste Renoir
12/18/2009
2010 Can Begin
12/02/2009
iMakeJewelry iPhone App now available
New Eastern Repousse & Chasing DVD and tools
9/10/2009
Mediocrity
9/02/2009
"Art Speak" Not Spoken Here
8/07/2009
Come to Global Oasis
7/07/2009
New Work
7/01/2009
Goodbye, Mollie
6/17/2009
Recent Live Interview on The Jewelry Connection
6/12/2009
Call for Eastern Repousse Images
6/06/2009
Getting to Work
5/30/2009
Live Interview @ 3:00 EST, Sunday, May 31
4/29/2009
Russian Filigree Powdered Solder
The Great American Pastime
3/22/2009
Necessity Is the Mother...
There's nothing like the police showing up at your front door to let you know you've got mail. I thought Skyler had already gotten if for today, but after one of Atlanta's finest came looking for different house, my honey brought in a chunk of cards and the eagerly anticipated small package that comes each year at this time, containing my Edward Gorey desk calendar. Ah, yes, it's the little things, one of which is that I can now fill in what feels like every damned day from January to March with something that has already been scheduled for months.
Somehow it wasn't so overwhelming when I circled the numbers and wrote in tiny letters on the squashed 2010 year at a glance in the back of the old calendar. Now, however, there is a lot to copy over, but, armed with my new little book, 2010 can officially begin in a mere two weeks. I am prepared to face it. [Gulp]
I wouldn't wish to mislead you, dear readers, into thinking that I'm in any way wildly organized or overly time aware. If that were the case, I wouldn't have kidded myself that I could release three DVDs, three accompanying e-books, one print book, and one iPhone app for metalsmiths in less than three years. The fact that I pulled off such a feat is proof that I have no sense of time at all... or at least not an admission that sleep is necessary.
Despite my ability to cram a week's worth of tasks into a single day, or perhaps because of it, I've attempted to space things out via some sort of organizational device for the past 25 years. Hard to believe of an artist, but I carried a Franklin Day Planner for 13 years. (Not the same one, of course. I'm not that bad with time.) When hauling it around started to wreak havoc with my shoulder, I joined the late 20th century and got a Palm Pilot, but found that I had a hard time getting it to recognize my handwriting when I was jostling a baby to keep it happy (the baby not the Palm Pilot) and scribbling in what the Palm must have thought a combination of runes and classical Chinese from about the 13th century, which hardly helped my time issues.
Home and studio bound more than ever, I switched to keeping my life on a real desk top the year a friend gave me "Neglected Murderesses, and Other Strange Tales: the 2003 Edward Gorey Engagement Calendar." - You've got to love the irony in that title. - Ever since, it's been a yearly Gorey calendar next to a blank page journal, sitting side by side in front of my computer monitor. Like the right and left hemispheres of my brain, all pages are covered in text and sketches with very little white space.
As I've been filling it in, I've been attempting sanity for 2010 in the form of taking the odd day off here an there. (Crazy talk to be sure.) If I made New Year's resolutions regularly taking days off might be one. Better not, lest it end up with work out more, loose five pounds, and get more sleep. Of course, I'm scheduling my life next to oddly shaped imaginary beasts, small Victorian children from The Gashlycrumb Tinies, who've met their untimely and unusual demise, and assorted other strange and darkly humerous creatures that only Edward Gorey could have created. In the face of too much to do, a sense of humor is essential. After all, we self-employed beings are not allowed to complain about too much work in such an economy!
Perhaps this year I'll even schedule putting the house numbers back up from when I took them down three years ago to paint the porch columns, but then, we wouldn't get the exciting surprise visits, and goodness knows, our bills haven't had any difficulty finding which house is ours.
9:10 PM
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Bronze Age technology or cutting edge technology... I enjoy working in both extremes. Introducing iMakeJewelry, the first iPhone app just for jewelers and metalsmiths.
Now your most valuable personal digital assistant is also your most valuable bench assistant.
iMakeJewelry is the ultimate app for jewelers and metalsmiths. Use it to check precious metal prices, calculate sheet, wire and wax weights, ring blank lengths, find alloy recipes and information on stones. Use it to calculate weight conversions from wax to metal or silver to gold and convert weight and area measurements from English to metric. Also included are tables for drill bit sizes and B&S gauges. Watch for frequent tips from Victoria Lansford.
Compatible with iPhone and IPod Touch.
Requires iPhone OS 3.1.2 or later.
Cost is US$3.99. Available exclusively through the Apple iPhone AppStore.
10:38 PM
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At long last, I'm pleased to announce that my latest DVD, Metal
Techniques of Bronze Age Masters: Eastern Repousse & Chasing, is now
available.
About the DVD: Learn the ancient techniques of Eastern repousse and
chasing through 4 jewelry size projects that take you from lines and
texture through some of the highest, most complex relief possible.
Learn tool making and how to do repousse on alternative materials
such as bi-metal and mokume gane. Be inspired by the Gallery
section, featuring repousse artwork from artists around the world,
and a special "Conversation with the Masters" segment in which
Victoria interviews her teacher, Giorgi Gogishvili, and his teacher
and father, Jemal Gogishvili, discussing the recent history of the
technique, while they demonstrate working on a sculptural scale.
Also with purchase is a downloadable e-book to keep the
corresponding directions and step-by-step photographs on your bench
and a dedicated online Q&A forum with Victoria. Approximate running
time 5 hours and 23 minutes. Encoded for all regions.
For those, who don't want to make their own tools, I am also
offering sets of tools, specifically designed for the technique. 
Eastern Repousse Tools: Complete sets of
tools have been replicated from Victoria's own special tools and are
specifically designed for high relief Eastern repousse. Each set has
been precision crafted on Swiss machines from high carbon 4130
steel, high polished, and heat treated to 50RC +/- to produce the
necessary types of hammer marks in both shape and depth. Each set has
been tested by Victoria for quality and includes 2 line tools (large
and small), 3 push tools (large, small, and edging), and 3
planishing tools (large, small, and thin). They are made in the USA,
packaged in a reusable container, and guaranteed for 5 years under
normal repousse use.
Watch the preview
10:29 PM
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There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity.
In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite. - Paul Gauguin
11:56 PM
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My opinion is that the best thing would be to work on till art lovers feel drawn toward it of their own accord, instead of having to praise or to explain it. - Vincent Van Gogh
11:31 PM
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-718976.jpg)
Because it's enough that I was on the big stage last weekend, now it's time for my part in
Global Oasis, a night of dancing from the islands of Hawaii to the Pyramids of Egypt.
I'm more on the Pyramid end of that spectrum with a lot of jazz fused in. If you're in ATL, please come enjoy watching my other life.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
7:30pm
at
Veranda Greek Taverna
Tickets available through TaylorGerard.com
$15 gets you a very yummy dinner and the show.
9:49 AM
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New artwork on the site!
Spriale Sancta
High relief Eastern repousse cuff bracelet
22k gold and sterling silver bi-metal
7" x 1-1/2" wide x 3/4" deep
©2009, Victoria Lansford
This bracelet was free hand hammered from a sheet of metal in the technique of Eastern repousse. The cuff formed as I created the relief. Bi-metal is 2 sheets of different metals fused together. In this case one side is 22 gold, and one side is sterling silver. It allows me to work in the yummy color of 22k, while the sterling lends strength that the gold alone would not have. The shapes are inspired by the golden section.
For more information on Eastern repousse, please click here.
For more new artworks, please visit the Gallery.
1:43 AM
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I've created many a piece while watching my favorite Britcoms from the 70's and 80's. Although I'm not one to watch the same movies or TV shows over and over (I only own 4 or 5 movies), I've watched all the episodes I can find of Are You Being Served more times than I can count. There's nothing like laughing your backside off while coping with a challenging soldering moment. If only I could achieve patinas on silver the colors of Mollie Sugden's hair.
Now my son watches Britcoms with me. In fact, he's officially made them family time so that he can pause the DVR 20 times per episode and explain the jokes to his clueless parents. (Aren't all parents clueless when you're 9 years old?) After nearly a year of this ritual, he's finally stopped asking why the audience laughs so hard when Sugden's infamous character, Mrs. Slocumb refers to her cat as "my pussy".
Molly Sugden, you will be missed, and "I am unanimous in that!" I'm sorry the end was tough, but you were brilliant from the beginning.
5:36 PM
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Please check out the recordings of the recent live interview in which I talk about the inspirational as well as technical aspects of my work on The Jewelry Connection with Mona Hair and Gail Devoid.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
9:38 PM
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My latest DVD, Metal Tehcniques of Bronze Age Masters: Eastern Repousse will be released this fall, and I'm looking for images of Eastern repousse work to include in the gallery section.
If you have taken one of my repousse classes or do this specific style of repousse, you are encouraged to submit images. The artwork can be all Eastern repousse or combined with other techniques and in any non ferrous metal (silver, gold, copper, argentium, brass, mokume gane, bi-metal, etc.)
Artwork will be selected on the basis of technique, artistry, uniqueness, and the quality of the photographic image of the work. Please adhere to the image requirements and photography hints below.
There is no entry fee. Artists, whose work(s) are accepted, will be given full credit with their images and will be given one free copy of the DVD when it becomes available.
Deadline to submit images: August 10, 2009
Notification of acceptance: October 1, 2009
Email images to victoria@victorialansford.com with no more than 2 images in each email.
Please include "artwork #1" (or #2 or #3) in the subject line of the email.
Include your name as you would like it listed, the title of the piece, the materials used, and the height, width, and depth of the piece in inches, and the photographer (if not the artist) with each artwork sent
Limit 3 repousse works of art for a total of 6 images: (1 full image of each artwork + 1 optional detail image of each artwork) Artwork that is part of a set, such as a necklace and earrings, or necklace and bracelet, may be photographed together and counted as one work of art.
Image requirements: digital images at least 8" x 10" at 300dpi in .jpg or .tff format
Please do not crop the images too closely. All images will be fitted into the appropriate resolution for television and may require more background than you would ordinarily leave for print or web use.
Work should be shot on a smooth, solid, contrasting background. Black or other dark foam core is encouraged. (Medium gray gets really boring on a big screen.) Artwork photographed on professional models will be considered, but please include a detail shot as well.
If you are photographing your own work, hints and tips may be found at
http://www.victorialansford.com/photographingmetal.html
For information on this specific repousse technique, please visit
http://www.victorialansford.com/repousse.html
If you have any other questions about submitting images, please email victoria@victorialansford.com.
10:07 AM
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There is the silly myth that still surrounds the concept of the working artist. The muse hits, and suddenly we're supposed to jump into the process of creation in a fury of inspiration and work until exhaustion prevails, passing out in a near Victorian repose as our audience is able to witness a new masterpiece. That's definitely the Hollywood version, and those, who know artists, usually realize that most art isn't created that way. Unfortunately, some peoples' perceptions go to the other extreme, and so they expect artists can turn off and on at a whim whatever it is that gets us working. Alas, that perception is as ridiculous as the first one.
Professional artists can't make a living by making art a la the popular perceptions of Michelangelo and Van Gogh. The truth is they both worked all the time and didn't let little things like interpersonal skills, bathing (Michelangelo), or insanity and the odd ingestion of lead based pigments (Van Gogh) get in the way of cranking out masterworks. However much they accomplished, today's artists don't often have a single rich patron or family to sustain us while we loose ourselves in our work. Of course, if we waited until the muse hit, we'd starve as well. Waiting on such a muse to inspire us off our backsides and to work has all the efficiency of getting from Atlanta to London by walking.
So what's a pro to do? Well, it's important to have tricks up your sleeve. We all need something that moves the fulcrum on the see saw to make it go from down to up. We are a visual lot, so looking at what inspires us is often a good start. I have a couple of books on ethnic jewelry that work like magic when I flip to the Middle Eastern chapters. Most of us have some kind of sound track that also puts us in the mood, as it were. Many of us have a whole arsenal of tricks to get going, so that whether the muse shows up or not, we still have inventory to show and sell.
There's one more challenge for all but the wildly independent (read 20 something males with no spouse, no kids, a small trust fund, and a Buddhist bent for materially minimal living). Most of us aren't islands. We have kids and spouses, pets and houses, gardens in need of weeding, clothes in need of washing, and refrigerators and pantries that are always mysteriously missing that key ingredient that will let one make tonight's dinner.
There is nothing so completely frustrating as making art in the middle of, well, life. It's the pulling of emotional energy away from oneself and outward toward others, energy that must stop going outward, do an about face, and begin recharging one's own batteries in order to gain any kind of flow state. When the pulling doesn't stop, no amount of pictures or sounds can galvanize an artist back to the process of making art. It's like asking a black hole to stop what it's doing and create a little matter.
I used to be perpetually frustrated with friends, who thought if I was home that I must not be working, despite always having had my studio in my home. Things got easier when so many more people began working from home even if they weren't self employed. Still, people used to seeing artists work may erroneously believe that artists just show up in their workspace and switch whatever button to work just like if someone working in an office sits down at the computer with a cup of coffee in the morning and immediately starts working... after checking email... and getting on Facebook.
As important as simply showing up is, gaining momentum is what gets us into a flow state that helps us create. For me, it's essential that I be thinking about what I'm working on before I actually sit down to work on it. I mentally feel my way through what I want to make or make progress on, and the ensuing build up of ideas is the momentum that carries me over to the bench and makes my hands pick up the tools. It's like stretching before running or dancing. Walking in and hitting the ground running, is a great way to get injured. My walking over to the bench and grabbing the torch without getting myself into the right frame of mind is probably a recipe for melting something or worse, potentially setting the house on fire.
This mental shift and momentum is a stealth move. Since it's going on in my own head, no one is aware of it except me, although everyone around can become painfully aware if I am derailed from making that shift and the momentum is lost. In other words, getting interrupted multiple times before I begin can be as frustrating and creatively devastating as getting interrupted after I've started. How well do runners run after the 12th false start? It's all too easy to give up and remember that I need to update my mailing list and catch up on email, and as important as those tasks are, they don't get art made.
Most artists cope with that problem by working away from home. I've always kept my studio here so that I could work through the night while my little one slept. I'm not sure what would happen if I moved work out. I've always been afraid that I'd never get there. Perhaps I should be more afraid that I'd never come home. ;-)
5:57 PM
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Please join me for a live interview at The Jewelry Connection on livevideo.com this Sunday at 3:00pm EST.
I'll be answering questions about my work and what inspires it from host, Mona Hair, co-host, Gail Devoid, and from the listeners as well. The interview will be archived on the site for one week if you miss it and would like to download it.
3:44 PM
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Love doing Russian filigree? Hate filing the solder? I've only been searching since the early 90's for a better way to create the ancient solder recipe, and now at last, I have one. This new solder is the same recipe but already in powdered form and with the flux mixed in. All you have to do is lightly paint the piece with water, then dip the damp brush in the powdered solder to pick up a tiny dab, and gently brush it onto the points to be soldered together. Voila!
It slices, it dices, it julinennes... Ok, while I normally despise sounding like an infomercial or a used car salesman, I'm more than a little excited about this stuff. I'm thrilled to be making it available to others, who pursue the beauty of Russian filigree, but I'm ecstatic about never again having to file the stuff for my own work!!!
Because the solder is of a finer mesh than what anyone (read any sane person) can file, it flows into the joints more effectively, meaning far better results from "the dreaded thumb test" to see if the filler wires were all soldered correctly. I've used it on several pieces that curve dramatically, and not had any of the filler wire joints break, which is amazing. Also, because it is based on the same ancient recipe as I teach how to make in the DVD, it flows like an easy but then behaves like a medium silver solder, making it possible to re-flow but not easily re-flowed by accident.
The solder comes in a small jar with instructions and is .75 troy oz for $29.95. At last the kits with solder and milled frame and filler wire are now available as well. One jar should last for months, possibly years of making Russian filigree pieces.
11:16 AM
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Batter's up. One strike, and then... he hits! He pauses half a second to make sure. It's a grounder. He takes off for first base. As the second baseman misses it and fumbles along with the players from center and right field, the player on third makes it to home, and the player on second makes it to third. The fans are going wild. It's the third game of the season, and there is now a good chance we can win a game for the first time.
It's player #3's first ever hit and first time to make it to first base in a game. He's jumping up and down on the base. The crowd behind home is jumping up and down too. He doesn't hear the first baseman talking to him through the fans' noise or the tight fitting hard helmet that creates feedback in his hearing aids. The assisting coach on first says to the first baseman, "He's not ignoring you. He has hearing loss."
"C-A-N Y-O-O-O-O-U-U-U H-E-E-E-E-A-A-A-R-R M-E-E-E?" the first baseman taunts. Number 3 doesn't hear. He's too euphoric to notice.
"Son, don't you dare speak to him that way!"
"You're not my coach!"
"I'm his step-dad. Would you like me to let your coach know how condescending, ignorant, and unsportsmanlike you're being?" replies the coach while the first baseman contemplates what condescending might mean. It sounds like it could be bad. He becomes sullen.
"No."
"No, what?"
"No, sir."
The refs are speaking to the head coach of #3's team. The coach, who couldn't find his way out of a cardboard box but would never admit there could be a problem, had lined up the batters out of order. He hadn't kept a copy of his list, apparently forever convinced of his own infallibility. The refs take away the last point scored, and, the inning now over, #3 comes into the dugout, still oblivious in his elation that his two RBI's and his first hit ever didn't count. It's now up to me to explain it to him, while the other Little League parents talk of wanting blood. Parenting is not for wimps.
In the second half of the last inning, #3 caught a ball in left field and kept the opposing team from scoring, and his buddy #5 scored a home run, which many of us suspected was inspired in part by his less than supportive father's lack of attendance. Still, we lost 10 to 3. As soon as the game was over, sometime between my phone call to my videographer, and the assisting coach returned to the dugout from the obligatory "good game" high fives, the head coach was caught in a feeding frenzy of indignant and angry parents. After yelling, "I quit!!!" he pointed a finger at the bewildered assiting coach, aka Daddy-o, and said, "You're now the head coach."
I hate sports, yet I dare never let on. It's moments like these that David Byrne sings through my head, "And you may ask yourself, 'How did I get here'?!?"
10:12 AM
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The Art of Opening: Bottles and Their Toppers opens at the Wood Turning Center in Philadelphia PA on May 1, 2009 and runs through July 19. I'm happy to announce that I have 2 bottle stoppers, 1 unconventional corkscrew, and 1 wild video in the show.
7:58 PM
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for gallery updates & workshop info
Click on DVD thumbnails to watch previews
Victoria's new solder removes all the drudgery from the technique, leaving only the fun part. .75 troy oz jar (lasts for years) $29.95
Fellow Artists & Writers
My Students' Websites
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Jazz 24 (always playing my studio)
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