fanciful devices: You May Have Watched a Cloud Pass Over the Face of the Moon

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.

9/22/10

You May Have Watched a Cloud Pass Over the Face of the Moon

To counteract the PMS fatigue, I had a Monster way too late in the evening and couldn't get to sleep til 6am. Nevertheless, I find myself having accomplished something today:

The colors are a tanish grey. The focal is a big metal tag that I think originally went on a bottle of superfancy spirits.

The entire back is a bungie cord I found on the sidewalk (and then grunged to death, of course). It hooks on the a broken piece of ancient hardware from Uruguay. (Oh, the tag is urug, too.)

On a stone I've had tucked away forever, which I never thought I'd find use for, it reads, "You may have watched a cloud pass over the face of the moon."

3 comments:

stregata said...: An absolutely inspired piece, fanci!; 9/22/10, 11:12 PM
Jennifer Valentine Morford said...: I LOVE LOVE LOVE when you put words on your work. I can hardly wait to wear my new worded necklace!
xoxox
love ya Fanci; 9/23/10, 6:59 AM
fanciful devices said...: really?
stole it from sparrow.
er, was inspired by sparrow. i have more words somewhere....
im so glad you 2 like it. someone's asked me to put it on hold!!! even b4 i listed or priced it! (now ima be like $400 ok?); 9/23/10, 1:58 PM