fanciful devices: sneak peek

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.

7/2/10

sneak peek

Never done a sneak peek before. But haven't had a chance to take decent pictures.

Maybe it's more a series of semi-shitty pictures as opposed to a sneak peek.

So, Uruguay just beat Ghana and my family members are loosing their minds.

My husband (who thinks he's Uruguayan but is from Virginia) just went to take our dog for a walk wearing the Uruguayan flag like a cape.

For a while, my mom honestly thought he was having a heart attack.

(But I sure feel bad for the Ghaneans, and all of Africa that was behind them. Not like they don't deserve a little joy.)

I'm personally having a manic episode from the fact that the school semester is over and I get a month of just making. No joke, my heart is racing, can't have coffee, kept waking up from just adrenaline rushes. Can't seem to put the first-person pronoun as the subject of any of these sentences.

4 comments:

Linda said...: Best sneak peak ever! Love each and every one. first-person pronouns? what are they?; 7/2/10, 6:28 PM
stregata said...: Can't wait for a better look at the piece with the tassel. Looks sneaky gorgeous.; 7/2/10, 11:37 PM
steufel said...: I'm very intrigiued by the one with the tassel. Eager to see the whole piece!; 7/3/10, 12:48 AM
fanciful devices said...: tassel? are y'all talking about the faucet knob with strips of cloth hanging off? hadn't thought of it as a tassel! but thank you guys! i'm so happy you like!; 7/3/10, 1:17 AM