fanciful devices: Shimmy-shimmy y'all

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.

7/29/10

Shimmy-shimmy y'all

New piece.Can't figure out which of the 2 close-ups should be my "eye-grabber," my first picture. I have the one up top 1st for now. I always have issues with which image to put first. I always demand that Sparrow tell me, and she always says "Oh, that one," w/o a second's hesitation. Sometimes, she tells me to switch them w/o my having asked, and I always do so immediately, w/o even thinking, though in all other aspects of life I'm a total contrarian.

Here's a WIP:

It looked so boring 'til I started putting the sorta "euro-centric" antique items up against it. It's interesting that my focals are always the Victorian part of my Victorian Tribal thang, and that the beads are the 'tribal'. I guess I don't have any tribal focals. And since they don't tend to appear in flea-markets, I'd have to get them online. There, they'd hurt me in by cheap-bone.

I done been featured in Bead Trends. A pair of earrings w/no beads in 'em. flower

5 comments:

Regina Moore said...: I am always amazed...this is absolutely GORGEOUS!; 7/29/10, 2:46 PM
Mellisa said...: Congrats on your feature (especially for accomplishing having no beads in "Bead Trends") ;); 7/29/10, 11:57 PM
Penelope said...: Oh I hear ya on the tribal focals- I've spent so much money on them in the last 48 hours it would make you throw up. But you're right, the combination of tribal beads and euro focals (or the other way around) gives that Victorian Tribal look we're going for. It's amazing how my Victorian buttons can look quite barbarian in the right composition.; 7/30/10, 12:08 AM
stregata said...: I agree - the first picture is the eye grabber. A wonderful piece!; 7/30/10, 1:12 AM
fanciful devices said...: Aw! thanks you guys for all the comments!
And yes, the more I looked at it, the more i saw that the 1st picture is best.
Regina- your pack get there yet?
Hi Mellisa, welcome.; 7/30/10, 11:42 PM