fanciful devices: Amanda Davie

A Stone Is Nobody's

A man ambushed a stone. Caught it.
Made it a prisoner.
Put it in a dark room and stood guard over it for the rest of his life.

His mother asked why.

He said, because it's held captive, because it is captured.

Look, the stone is asleep, she said, it does not know whether it's in a garden or not. Eternity and the stone
are mother and daughter; it is you who are getting old. The stone is only sleeping.

But I caught it, mother, it is mine by conquest, he said.

A stone is nobody's, not even its own. It is you who are conquered; you are minding the prisoner, which is yourself,
because you are afraid to go out, she said.

Yes yes, I am afraid, because you have never loved me, he said.

Which is true, because you have always been to me as the stone is to you, she said.

Russell Edson

FAQs

1. Are you a Southeast Asian dancing girl from the 1800s?

No, sorry to disappoint. My avatar and banner images are from an ancient book I found in the depths of my grandmother's cabinets. More on that here.

2. How do you make everything look so old?

First, you need a good oxidizer to brush on every bit of metal you can reach. I'll tell you all about it here.

Then there's this wax. I first mentioned it here. You'll have to scroll down a lot.

3. How can you be so productive?

I'm insanely obsessed and I have no offspring. I do nothing else- I don't have a day job, I don't clean my house or cook, I spend all day in pjs, often completely abandoning personal hygiene... I only interact with other humans when I walk my dog. And I like people! But I prefer dogs.

And I'm sloppy- but I make that sloppiness work for me.

4. Any tips you'd like to share?

No! Except for these 16 posts about techniques and this one about how to find your aesthetic.

5. Would you be offended if I took some inspiration from your designs?

Well, I'd be happier if you outright copied them.

No really, imitation is how we learn. I have enough ideas to go around. And even if I don't- please. No one's going to do this obsessively enough to threaten my business. (Probably.) I learned by copying others and I've seen others copy me as a step toward developing their own voice. So feel free. (I'd love if you tossed me a link in my comments, so I can feel like a proud momma.)

6. What do you look like?

Why, what have you heard? Really? Wow.

5/10/10

Amanda Davie

I discovered a new etsian to heart called Amanda Davie.

She makes these rustic lovely, very art-bead-scene-ish things.

This one with the pin is my favorite.

She makes a lot of these resin bezel closures.

And often returns to the house motif, which I especially love with the square inside.

And here's a couple items from her sold section.

A balance of rustic/earthy with vintage/delicate. No girly frills. It really caught my eye.

After writing this, I actually bothered to go to her blog, and found a page of work I hadn't seen. These in particular:

are wonderful for what in Uruguay we would call their constructivist feel.

Its like a form revealing function. Structural and mechanism-y.

Of course, jewelry has no function but to adorn, so to create a constructivist feel is a real feet!

I would love more of this in my work, and it was the original idea behind my name 'fanciful devices.'

2 comments:

amanda davie said...: Wow! I'm honored to be featured on your beautiful blog. Thank you so much for your kind words...and sharing a bit of love. You are a very talented artist, and I've admired your work for some time, so it's really an honor. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. light and love-amanda; 5/10/10, 5:03 PM
Lorelei Eurto said...: I am in love with Amanda's work as well!! It speaks volumes doesn't it!!?; 5/10/10, 5:53 PM