fanciful devices: Messy Piles of Joy

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.

6/22/10

Messy Piles of Joy

I had a whim to photograph my grimy table again.

It's glass coated in gunk.

That's it's Ikea name- Glassundgunk.

Freaked out by too many supplies as usual.

But looooooook! So cuuuuuuuuuuuute!

In the back here you see a tub of my wax and dirt mix I use to grunge everything up. Looks lovely, hu?

OH! I just remembered- I have a 1 month vacation coming up! Oh shit! My poor husband isn't gonna see me out of my PJs or wearing a bra in weeks!

These are little polymer clay heishi that this guy makes gradiated- er, shaded in grades, like you see in some tourmaline gemstones- by mixing shades. I was curious to mix transparent and elephant grey. I' m not sure if it'll work but, we'll see. He sells them by five thousand, in any colors you want, but i asked him for 1000 and he was very happy and willing. Maybe it's cuz he's a boy, I dunno, but, I can't imagine someone wanting 5000 of anything they haven't had a chance to touch and mess with before.

And here's my lazy baby, suffering from the heat.

At some point this was considered the guest room. Biggest bed in the house and it's been claimed by Bingo. A couple times when people have visited and we prepared the bed for them, he's peed on it.

I'm constantly swiping his hair out of photo shoots and projects. But then, I'll never have to change diapers or buy Dora the Explora backpacks. Or pay college tuition.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: Ooh, nice! I like to see pictures of people's supplies and stuff. I can't wait to see what you do with the little disembodied hand (5th photo).; 6/22/10, 2:57 PM
fanciful devices said...: yeah, lots of folks like to see stash and workspace, i guess as a way to learn more about your process? or to see if you (the viewer) might learn new tips and tricks? Or to feel better about ur own mess?
the hand is from uruguay, of course. it's from a santo statue that lived in a church. You can see the little stigmata marks, so it was Jebus. I can't wait to see what I do with it either!; 6/23/10, 1:34 AM
bloodmilk. said...: i want that hand!!!!!!; 6/25/10, 9:26 PM