We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Victoria Sceery. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Victoria below.
Hi Victoria, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I truly believe my resilience comes from within, and anyone can tap into this. I’m a product of my environment and it has encouraged me to grow. I’m lucky enough to live in the same city as all of my closest college friends. We’ve worked side jobs together, main jobs together, shared apartments, and finally have collaborated on professional projects. While always staying self-motivated, I’ve always been inspired by the people around me.
Because of my parents, I was raised with an incredible example when it comes to work ethic. They both followed their dreams. My mom is an ICU dietitian and my dad is a ski shop owner after starting his career in the air force and sports marketing for NASCAR and the NFL. They’ve led by example and I paid close attention. Innately, I picked up a paint brush and had my first yoga class early on. My dad gave me my first snowboard in first grade. Cultivating a healthy outdoor lifestyle and wellness has always been vital to my work/life balance. My parents taught me a lot of what I know about commitment and standing up when I fall down, over and over. Along with their careers my parents also kept their passions. My dad has worked on boats since he was 15 and now has his own. He works on it in the summer’s reconstructing and working on the wood and varnish finishings. My mom reconstructs and finishes her own home with lace curtains, paintings on her walls, and special attention to detail on her natural wood and tile floors. My mom keeps art history books around the house and made fine art a focal point in my upbringing. We share the same favorite, Salvador Dali. I get my craftsmanship from my dad and my design skills through my mom.
Throughout my 20’s, I’ve mainly learned perseverance through the business of art and fashion. It is a controversial industry. I work well under pressure and used to push through when I was burnt out because the competition is so fierce. I quickly learned that this is not sustainable and there is a gentle way to succeed. Now when the going gets tough, I do take breaks, then, once I’ve recharged, I walk back through the fire.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
In my early 20’s I worked in the fashion industry and started a small brand soon after. In art and design school I was trained in studio work so I was eager to leave office life and get back to my textile roots. Working as a designer gave me the skills and experience to start my own business unexpectedly.
I’ve worked in the hospitality industry for most of my life. It’s always been a supplement to school and throughout my hustle as an artist from Rhode Island, to Savannah, and finally Venice, CA. I had no idea it would also open up the door to my own business. When I left fashion, I dedicated my time to textiles, creative work for Waterfront, a restaurant I worked for, and hospitality there. There was a small concept shop called The Shed. I hand dyed one of the hoodies from the shop for practice. The creative director reached out for a collaboration and from here the brand grew through the community.
My friend and local chef purchased a matching set for him and his wife. They were walking around Montecito, CA one day when an owner of a boutique took interest in the color and pattern, asked for my number and called me that day. It was humbling to hear that she really connected with my work and considered it individualistic. This created an opportunity for more growth. Dyework is artwork that grounds me, it was encouraging that something that felt so natural was selling.
I traveled to Peru and Bali to develop textile techniques. After Bali, I was able to follow through on the fine art side of things, and begin work on canvas, a long time goal. Over the last year, I had my first art show alongside the work of two friends. This group show took place at my friend’s photo studio in DTLA. Here my collection “That Summer” was exhibited. The color I mixed and layered for these paintings are inspired by summer’s spent with my sister’s at my mom’s family cottage in north east New England. The painting’s, titled as follows, Great East Lake, was named the hunter green cottage set in the woods, Moon for the eclipse phases, specifically the blood moon seen in the summer and season turn around Autumn, Gloaming for the colors we see but may not really notice between dusk and nightfall, and Wild Blueberry for the deep blues and pinks when smashed, wild blueberry bush that grows in the cottage’s backyard. I’ve always wanted to work with embroidery and was able to apply this to the large scale painting titled Gloaming and Wild Blueberry.
As a small artist and business owner all of my work is locally sourced and I work with low impact dyes to be gentle with our environment. I do have a work in progress at the moment. I’ve always been inspired by the science of flowers. I plan to work botanicals into a project with a friend and dye work teacher in Bali. Who owns a dye warehouse in Tejakula. The landscape in north bali and the friendships I made specifically in the singaraja region, really grounded my thought process for color and concept that I’d like to move forward with. I hope to launch this collection by Winter 2024.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The qualities that have been valuable to my growth as an artist are work ethic, education, studio training in textile work, and the development of all of these through field work. It took some time to build up enough experience to travel and learn from makers where textile work is part of the culture and ancestry in places like Peru and Bali. My best advice is to focus, persevere, and connect with your community – what we have around us really is all we need.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
Work for Money, Design for love by David Aire. David teaches designers starting out, freelancers, and small business owners how to stay inspired and protect themselves. He gives a great template on how to frame your terms and conditions. It’s easy for these to be overlooked or pushed when you’re working solo or on a small scale.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.victoriasceery.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriasceerytextiles/
- Other: https://www.rockyhill.org/alumni/
Image Credits
All photos credited to Josie Elle. The single painting and work in progress paintings were shot by me, Victoria Sceery,
