Crafting an Artful Life: Imaginative Musings on Creativity

Sterling granulation ring in progress
/ / /

Easy Being Green + The Difference Between Filigree & Granulation

After months of waiting, all is green again here. Kermit might have found green a challenging color to be, but I revel in my fully tree-canopied yard. I literally can’t get enough of looking up at the vivid blue sky through the lush leaves of my giant water oaks. Ok, so I’ve all but given…

Coronation Ring II, Russian filigree ‘dinner ring’ by Victoria Lansford; photo by Pat Vasquez-Cunningham
/ / / / /

35 Years: Forging Ahead with a Mouse and a Pond Skimmer

Spring here continues in all its glory. The trees are nearly leafed out, which means soon I’ll be able to stop skimming oak flowers out of the fish pond. Skimming them does no good for the many displaced cervical discs in my neck, but it’s so calming that I can’t resist. This is how I…

Twist of Lemon gold and silver, wire granulation ring by Victoria Lansford; photo by Pat Vasquez-Cunningham
/ / / /

Jewelry & Metalsmithing Are All About the Tips, the Tricks, and the People

Happy Spring/Fall! Wherever you are, may the colors and weather be beautiful and inspiring. Spring here is underway, and despite the persistent freeze warnings and night, and the clouds of pollen…ok, and if I’m honest the fact that everything in Atlanta is covered in The Yellow Snow (in which no dogs have play a part),…

The Magic Moment of Fusing (without melting everything!)
/ / / /

The Magic Moment of Fusing (without melting everything!)

I recently took an online art history course in Ancient Jewelry through the Penn Museum. The instructor Dr. Jane Hickman showed tons of gorgeous granulation jewelry from antiquity (along with filigree that’s really also granulation because it’s fused to a base sheet). As she was endeavoring to explain to the non metalsmiths in the course…

Holding It Together - 3D Filigree Hair Comb by Victoria Lansford
/ / /

Trying to “hold it all together?”

Grasp it dimensionally with 3D Filigree! Art Nouveau Meets Contemporary Filigree If you’re curious how long it took me to create this piece, I’ll give you a hint. I paint my fingernails about every 3.5 weeks, and I don’t always change the color. In other words…It took ages! Access begins February 15th with the first…