fanciful devices: not doin' what yr shoulda doin'

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.

8/16/10

not doin' what yr shoulda doin'

Well, I did get a ton done today, but my custom necklace is taking its time. There were a bunch of earrings that wanted to get made.

All the photos in this post were shot at night using indoor lighting, so please excuse.

(The glass leaves were part of my gifts from Fancylinda. Yes, I'm STILL getting mileage from that little box she surprised me with.)

I also had some requests to re-make sold ones:

Babyzorba, who sent me the milagro people to recreate Poppet Magic 3, also sent me those hearts above, and they just seemed to go w/whatever they happened to be next to.

Tomorrow, I turn 36... well, today, I guess. My resolution is to do this full time by the time I'm 40 (actually, sooner...). I know, resolutions are for New Years, but they never strike me then. Birthdays seem a natural size-up-yr-life time for me. It's also me and hubster's 5th year of married happytime. I've been too distracted w/jewelry to provide him with bliss, per se, but happytime yes. I chose to get married on my birthday to help me remember both my anniversary and my birthday. I'm a space case about such things...

OH! the white stones in the background here were from fancylinda, too:
Self Descent. Stone Coral Buri Seed and Soldered Image.

Self Descent. Stone Coral Buri Seed and Soldered Image.

And look at what she has to torment me with now:

And the last thing I need to be doing (ever) is looking at supplies.

4 comments:

Spirited Earth said...: happy birthday to you.
love your work..; 8/16/10, 7:49 AM
Anonymous said...: Happy B Day and congrats for your anniversary. Keep fighting for your goal, good luck! Monika Sz.; 8/16/10, 10:02 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm not trying to torment you... Just wishing you a happy birthday and anniversary!; 8/17/10, 12:22 AM
elisabeth said...: I would also love to make jewelry full time in the next few years - it will be fun to read your blog to see how it's going :-); 8/20/10, 8:04 PM