fanciful devices: If money were no object

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.

6/26/10

If money were no object

I'd get the real deal- authentic and crazy old. It's out there, and it's for sale.

Never imagined it anywhere but in a museum, somehow.

These last 2 bead pictures are glass w/metal foil.

This next bead is from the flippin' third or second century BC!

Things haven't changed that much.

So yeah, it would be nice to buy $200 beads, but then, what would the point be? These things don't need me, they're awesome already.

From this same site, check out the ancient Roman and nomadic jewelry:

3 comments:

steufel said...: Beautiful pieces and ancient art IS breathtaking. We had an excibition here in Cologne with pieces of glass and gold from the romans. The pieces were to die for!; 6/26/10, 4:29 AM
fanciful devices said...: Cologne? Are you in France?
I don't know why I thought of france. I just looked it up- 4th largest city in Germany. I should know that, hu? And it's where eu de cologne comes from! cool. see, being in europe, you are much closer to all that stuff. in europe, time is everywhere. signs that your city existed for ages, i mean. that's how i felt in italy and spain. not here. it's all present, always being remodeled to the latest thing.; 6/26/10, 4:39 AM
stregata said...: And what can we learn from these beautiful ancient treasures? That the urge to create and the desire to adorn oneself with jewellery is age old - it is part of our heritage.; 6/26/10, 5:35 AM