fanciful devices: Unproductive Sunday

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.

10/3/10

Unproductive Sunday

Oh, boy I thought I was gonna do so much today. Somehow, waking up at 3 pm doesn't make for a really productive Sunday.

So, here's a picture of another piece I'm working on featuring an ethically harvested crystal from littlebrownmagpie, aka, Sparrow, who has no recollection of having sent me these, lol! The prayer hands are from my awesome oft-mentioned gal who sends me random things and wants me to make stuff special for her all the time. They were actually already on a necklace, it was meant to be a thank-you gift. Thanking me for accepting her free supplies and for my taking payment for the pleasure of playing with aforementioned goodies. Anywhoo, I had to take it apart and use it for other things. Had to.

Also, I got so many nice comments and convos about my sacred heart doodles, I had to scan in another one, below. Folks seems surprised I can draw(ish). Made me think it wasn't clear when I showed the collage growing on my wall that the drawings were by me:

Oh, in this doodle I had an idea of the heart floating over an open hand. then as the fingers started to look like toes, I remembered I can't do fore-shortening. So I added a crow of peace. And a banner w/a line in a poem I found forever ago and really can't remember any more of...

(Note- found it. John Keats.)