fanciful devices: soooo knackered

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.

10/10/10

soooo knackered

OK, I'm not 100% sure what knackered means, but I hardly slept last night and I feel like shit. Yesterday, I was kinda bummed because I took a late nap and was still groggy at 7. I felt like I was having another inefficient day. But then I found myself up at 4 AM, still making.

Partial white thing:

Sparrow's talk of bridal items got me in the mood to make something romantic:

These are awaiting ear wires:

They could be bridal.

I fixed the minty green hearts:

The right one ended up telling me it wanted to be crimson. Just plain blackened, it was indistinguishable from the base. Who knows how it'll end up, though.

On this sliced woodblock stamp, I put 2 different lines of text- both upside down. D'oh!

The prevailing theme of this necklace is lack of color.

It's a-chromatic.

"Sunlight falls on us and it is day."

All these bits of text I've been using are from the same children's book with one story in it called "Tell Me About the Sky." Score! Out of context any talk of the sky is so evocative.

Now, did y'all think I was gonna leave these all shiny w/the UTEE? Hells no. I waxed them w/wax medium. My hands are so gunky w/wax and oxidation, a cut and a cuticle seem to be mildly infected. (I should state I wash my hands many times a day.) My mission for today is to get some neosporin or bactine (which one's better?) and band-aids. Or liquid band-aids. And coffee.

Finally, I think I should do something with this lovely old thing (from Uruguay) full of pyrite. But for now, I think it's nap time.

3 comments:

stregata said...: Well, I've never heard of the word before - but I know exactly what kind of feeling you're talking about.
That white necklace in process looks fantastic.; 10/10/10, 1:26 PM
Chelsea (TangoPig) said...: Neosporin's better -- it softens the skin as well as disinfecting. Oh, god, I LOVE those crystal earrings, I'd totally wear those to a wedding.; 10/11/10, 1:01 PM
fanciful devices said...: yeah- i ended up getting neosporin, it's helping a lot. but, lol, i thought bridal jewelry meant its for the bride! either way...; 10/13/10, 4:43 AM