fanciful devices

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.

10/16/10

[Seals, letterheads, and allegorical imagery.]

This collection of images is the commercial work of Alexander Anderson.

You know how sometimes you find things by just clicking one link after anther until you can't remember how you even got there? Well, my journey started in the brand-new updated link list on Sparrow's blog. [Product labels and letterheads.]

Which is also how I happened upon this lovely mixed paper journal I'd hate to alter in any way.

It's been just 1 day away from my studio and I'm having withdrawal. I did manage to sneak in several times, and to bring some pyrite and random things downstairs to wire together while my folks and my in-laws were chatting. They're so quiet compared to us. We in my family are perhaps a very cultured version of your Jersey-Shore Italians. I hate to say it. Mind you, we certainly don't look or live like them, but we all start yelling at each other all at once for any little thing. Then 1 minute later it's over and everything's fine. But it's embarrassing around such sweet, simple people as my Southern relatives. They'd never do that in a million years. Everyone yelling at once because they all have a different version of some anecdote....