fanciful devices: Oh Joyous Day

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.

5/17/10

Oh Joyous Day

When I make stuff, it's better than if I'd won the lottery.

It feels as if someone told me peace broke out throughout the middle east, and creeps are no longer sexually attracted to children.

And global warming has been reversed and folks in power no longer have any desire to exploit the powerless in any way.

And pictures have surfaced of O'Riley and Glen Beck in a threesome getting spanked by their illegal immigrant gardner.

Makes me so happy, in fact, that I even took these shots of my scummy, scuzzy work area (aka- living room coffee table) and I'm posting them up here shamelessly.

Cuz who am I trying to fool, anyways? And I think the reason I don't put up or take more pictures is feeling like they have to look all perfect and not coated in grime and dog hair...

(And the last 2 pictures, the stuff in copper foil is waiting to be soldered. But it was raining today and I can easily see me hurting myself very badly, trying to solder in my patio in the rain.)

5 comments:

Jo Archer said...: I love this new rebellious attitude. Down with the perfect "Yummy Mummy" blogs! I want to see something real.; 5/18/10, 1:00 AM
romantic decay said...: I like your photographs. Having a visual of O'Riley and Beck has made my whole day!; 5/18/10, 7:28 AM
fanciful devices said...: lol- i'm not sure how my decision to post pictures of my grimy work area ended up in a politico-fantasy rant...; 5/18/10, 10:33 AM
Penelope said...: FINALLY! I have been wanting to see pics of your workspace for a trillion years!!! Those huge black beads in the first image have me in palpitations...and that crystal!! With the gold leaves around it!! I WAS THINKING THAT TODAY. Seriously, staring at the wall wondering how I could do that.

It's very tempting, those fuzzy, grime-addled shadows of hidden treasures that I can see under the glass top of your desk, I want to see inside! It occurs to me your way is a good way of doing things- being able to see so much at one time. I have all my bits in tackle boxes, piled on the side of my table. But I need to be able to see things to remember I have them. Something to think about after the holidays. (And Mum has a glass top table I could totally steal for this...); 5/18/10, 11:05 AM
fanciful devices said...: blush!
that was a crystal that came in a destash i got over a year ago:
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=20067371
and made into
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=28803969
and
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=23678169
This one is just in a huge honkin bead cap from my uruguay haul.; 5/18/10, 11:37 AM