fanciful devices: a fine mess

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.

7/17/10

a fine mess

I forgot that someone asked for before-and-afters of my new studio.

So all I ended up with was "durings." Durings?

What an ungodly mess. And every time I even think about organizing, I end up making. But I LOVE IT!

So, to feel productive I took pictures of a couple rings to list.

This one is an antique button piece layered over a bone game piece over a found beer cap.

And this one is a glorious chunk of pyrite. And that's all! I loooooove it!

I've had this pyrite forever, wondering how I'd connect it to a ring base. Then I just glued it and went "Duh!"

Have you ever seen such a glorious mineral? Can't decide which picture to use as my first "eye-grabber" shot.

3 comments:

Jennifer Valentine Morford said...: Inspired by you! I received my pyrite nuggets last week....they are even more incredible in person....I'm thinking a necklace is in order, paired with an old silver filigree medallion....
Love the color of your walls!; 7/17/10, 8:50 PM
Penelope said...: I love pyrite! first time I saw it I couldn't believe it was naturally occuring. And they says there are no straight lines in nature. Sez who?!

I need more studio pictures.; 7/18/10, 9:18 AM
fanciful devices said...: science sez! and i'm all about science, despite knowing nothing about it. but i think that's what makes pyrite so spectacular, such a visual surprise. cuz it's so rare to see such straight lines occur in nature.; 7/18/10, 11:02 PM