fanciful devices: Monday's Makings

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.

9/28/10

Monday's Makings

Do I even need to say it? I just took these, it's 1am, so they're gonna look weird. Whatevs. I found these crystals among things Sparrow sent me when we first met, back in the summer of '71. Ah, those were crazy times. Oh, wait- I don't think it was even a year ago...

You can't tell but this little beauty is sorta pointed at both ends, but off-center like an almond eye.

I also finally put connecting loops on everything. It just shouldn't be so hard! Well, I figured out how to make it a little easier by making a double loop so the solder had something to stick to. I need a vice. Wait, no, a vise. Making this stuff is my vice.

<--Check it out- finally making this guy into something. I suppose the back'll have to be plain. You already got a lot to take in w/the heart and the chunks of soldered book board.

And a cute simple-ish cuff that came out waaaay to short. I wanted the 2 similar buttons to be spaced apart in a visually pleasing way, but they're just odd. I guess I can cut out the small button, add a chunk of fabric and sew it all back together. I shmeared the chain w/a bit of violet red paint (quinacridone red) and it came out pretty neato.

And being as I am clearly so focused on this, I went into the one class I have to teach on Mondays, which starts at 7:30pm, and went along for a good 15 minutes talking to them like they were my 5:00 class. I was all, "none of you came on Friday!" Finally, after much confusion, they were all, "we don't have class on Friday..." Then I wanted to crawl under the desk. Good thing I'm such a clown and make them laugh so much, it makes them forgive my spacyness...

3 comments:

Regina Moore said...: Loving the soldered book board pieces...so unusual and intereting!; 9/28/10, 9:08 AM
stregata said...: Can't wait to see how the heart piece turns out. And I love the cuff!!; 9/28/10, 11:32 PM
*Debi* said...: Awesome work again!; 10/1/10, 12:08 AM