fanciful devices: me frets

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.

10/23/10

me frets

stillpointworks made these especially for me!

I'm feeling kinda fretful. It's like, I can never make all the things I wanna make fast enough, I always have to work, even though it's so few hours, I sleep so many hours that I guess I only have a small window of productivity in life. And with these opportunities for publishing coming up, it's stressful, because it makes you think about taking your career in this or that direction.... but tutorials and that take up so much time. And the stuff in the store never sells. Or so it feels lately. Only a few new items here and there sell, not the stuff there now. The pretty things sell ... but I only rarely feel like making girly things... and there's not a huge market for no-color having doorknob necklaces...
Missficklemedia superwonderfully offered me help to get things in markets and fairs, and maybe that'll help. Etsy will have to be less the center of my world, though, which is hard for me to fathom. I love putting everything there because then total strangers write me the most beautiful things! It's my parents- I'd be fine being poor, it's them that exert so much pressure on me... if I didn't live so close to them. if my mom weren't so intense and stress-inducing... I know the more time I have to dedicate to this, the better I get, I just have to stand up to her for the 1st time in my life...
Yeah, these are the thoughts roaming through the ol' brain...
I think a lot about 'if I'd only stood up to them' in my childhood. Realizing that what I felt all that time was right and true. and I know this is right and true, so I have no excuses... I gotta talk to my boss about dropping a class.
I guess I could just put a lot more pictures here on the blog and share that way, if I'm sending things off to markets. I could actually do flickr.

Hmm...

Here's some old sold stuff to add eye candy to this whiny post:

The Purser and the Phantom Crew. Antique Coin Purse Necklace.

Hypatia. Victorian Tribal Calendar Neck Piece.

4 comments:

Spirited Earth said...: i bet dollars to donuts i am older than you(way)and wrestled with similar issues a lot over the years..so here are my 2 cents...
i had to move 2,500 miles away
(have returned)to get some space from my family..i too should have differenciated from them while in my 20's..
i love my family but they have mastered the art of control..ditto for several of my friends with their families..it happens a lot to creative people.
i did go to a counselor for tools to approach the situation..
it ends up YOU will be the one changing cause the family doesn't have an issue with their behavior.
i constantly am saying to my mom "do you really think i'm going to do that?"
her response now is NO..but she still tells me how to do Everything and pulls this one
"i am your mother"..it's crazy..now,i just laugh and do what i darn well want. after all what can happen?

and as far as your work..it's perfect..you don't need a Huge market just a steady one.
don't foresake Etsy..i'm soo addicted to it..
Missficklemedia is most wonderful to help, it makes a difference to have some support.
also get into a good gallery that will promote you..and take metalsmithing workshops, not just to learn but to network and open doors into the art jewerly world.
geez i wrote a book..
so unlike me..; 10/23/10, 7:38 AM
TesoriTrovati said...: I think that in the realm of the creative you always are in this tug of war with yourself. There is the need to create and the need to sell and sometimes those things don't really mesh. It is so hard to know what people want, so I really make things that I would like (good think I have a really diverse sense of style). My family supports me but only to a point. If I hear my dad ask me how my 'playing with beads' is going I might have to hurl myself in front of a train. But things may be happening around here soon that will actually propel me in a different direction. I hope it is a good one.

Hang in there. Find support you need and ask for help too. Don't forsake one spot for another and keep making what you believe in. That is where your talent lies and you have a responsibility to share it with the world.

Enjoy the day!
Erin; 10/23/10, 12:04 PM
~Debi said...: Another post from a woman probably old enough to be your mom (my daughter is 25). Seriously, you are one of my top 3 favorite jewelry makers and someone I look up to in the jewelry world.

You have sold 22 items in October! That is awesome! I have sold...one. (and that was a $14 pair of earrings which I gave the buyer free shipping on to get her to buy them :/ )

As far as making more sales, I think time is your only problem. You make gorgeous items and people love them! And by the way, I was going back and forth between the piece I bought from you and one of those "doorknob necklaces."

Hold your head up girly! You ARE awesome!!!!!!!; 10/23/10, 4:12 PM
Penelope said...: You ARE awesome! I most certainly second that. I look up to you so much- I know I was your hero when we first met but there's never been a time when I wouldn't happily have throw all my stuff out the window to have my work look like yours. No I'm not saying your stuff looks like you threw it out the window...

...parents will always hassle you. My grandmother hassled my parents right up until the day she died. it's parental right, or so they think!; 10/25/10, 9:15 AM