JASPER: Ha, I love that! Now that you’ve been inundated in this for a while, how do you choose which materials you want to use? How do you source them?
LAMOTT: You know those kids who have to pick up every pretty rock and are really annoying about learning about what kind it is and how it’s made and all that? Some of us don’t grow out of it. Using gemstones was never a question in my work. I love the metalwork, but once I learned to cut and polish gems there was no going back. I’ll source my rocks anywhere I legally can. I buy a lot at gem shows, but I find a lot on the ground too. I also find so many at National Parks and they all stay right where I found them because you don’t take things from National Parks. If I can leave them there, you can too. Thematically, I think this idea of natural scenes really lends itself to metals and gemstones, as those metals and gems all come from Earth in the first place.
JASPER: Beyond using metals and gems, are there specific styles that you lean towards?
LAMOTT: My style has changed dramatically over time, and I hope it continues to do so. I’m always learning new techniques and bits of those will always find their way into my work. My work from 5 years ago absolutely makes me cringe now, and I hope today’s work makes me cringe in 5 years. I always want to be creating something new.
JASPER: Thinking about new and old, what kind of ideas or images usually find their way into your work? Has nature always been your primary inspiration?
LAMOTT: I’ve always done “nature inspired” work, and I’ve always thought that’s so cliche. Who isn’t “inspired by nature”? So, I set out to see all of South Carolina’s state parks and find different inspiration within them. Instead of being inspired by nature in general, perhaps I could find inspiration in specific (natural) places. That snowballed into creating landscapes. For now, I’m sticking to state and national parks, partially because they give me a cohesive body of work, but mostly because I really like state and national parks and now I get to hang out in them and call it work!
JASPER: Tell me about how you create – what goes into the process of moving from idea to a piece of jewelry.
LAMOTT: The majority of my design work is done on the trail. I’m starting to find myself taking photos with the intention of creating jewelry from them—if I step a little bit that way, that angle on the tree looks better. That kind of thing. For the inlay landscapes, I have a pretty concrete image in my mind, and that’s what I create. I do make some pieces from cabochons and their creation is far more fluid. I have a pile of rocks and some cut out hikers, mountains, trees, and whatnot on my bench and I move them around till something feels right. One thing that’s nice about metalsmithing is once it’s soldered, there’s not much changing it. It forces you to decide it’s done.
JASPER: What did you do for this show, particularly?
LAMOTT: These pieces were made specifically for this show. I’ve had both the ideas of making some smaller pieces and doing a series based on Columbia in my mind, so when I was approached about this show it seemed like the perfect time to finally do both. These are my first smaller pieces and I’m absolutely thrilled with them. This size is here to stay for me.
JASPER: You included images with the pendants in this show – is this typical for you?
LAMOTT: I always show the images if I have them. I think the pendants stand alone as artwork just fine, but one of the comments I hear most is how my work “tells a story.” And that is my intent—to tell a story of a place or an activity outdoors. Everyone has an emotional connection to some place and the memories are a big part of this for me. That’s why I only work from my photographs. It’s about a connection with a place at that time. I think showing my images along with the pendant helps to tell that story.
JASPER: Speaking of memories, do you have any standouts with your art career?
LAMOTT: I have too many to list, but every single one involves my artist friends. It takes a special kind of person to decide they’re just going to throw up a tent and sell their work. It’s been a fun ride so far. Recently I won an award of distinction at the Fairhope Arts Festival and that absolutely made my day!! That is a wonderful show filled with incredibly talented artists, and I’m honored to have won an award there.
JASPER: Well, what’s in the future for you?
LAMOTT: Upcoming shows include Troyfest and Panoply in Alabama, Rockville Arts Festival in Maryland, Chastain Arts Festival in Atlanta, and Tephra Fine Arts Fair in Virginia. I have a pretty full schedule this year and I’m traveling quite a bit, so perhaps it may be easier to catch me online. I try to update my Instagram (@valerielamottdesigns) daily, and I can email invoices for anything I post on there.
Lamott’s show will be up until April 30th, and you can peruse her stories and purchase one for yourself 24/7 via Jasper’s virtual gallery: https://the-jasper-project.square.site/tiny-gallery
