fanciful devices: WIP-it

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.

11/1/10

WIP-it

Here's some thaaangs.

I didn't do any Halloween related posts, and I love Halloween. Love costumes. Halloween crafts are never overly cheesy to me, I adore them. I'm terrible at doing things related to times....

Y'all proly tired of seeing this star guy, but he's turning into something.

Here's some stuff I gots from Spirited Earth. And the ones on the raffia were freebies! Thank you grrl!

I'm trying to show the wonderful texture they have. I often have a bitchy superego saying not to do cute things or trendy things, but fuck it, these owls are awesomesauce.

This one you just wanna rub like a worry stone, it's so nubby. (I think I overly de-saturated it, it's a glorious amber.)

Here are the earrings I'm sporting today. They're from SacredCake and they're wonderful! I never had post earrings, they're so comfortable and don't swing around like danglies. Plus- look at them! They're cut steel antique buttons. Drool....

Today I did a get-out-the vote all around Pilsen, the Latino neighborhood. Cuz even the legal among us 'spics tend not to vote. And the entire time I was putting flyers under windshield wipers and sticking up posters and chatting w/some really cool Mexicans, all I could think was the line from cuteoverload "Vote vote vote like a baby stoat!"

Plus I realized how crappy the windshield wipers on my (mom's) car are. Even the most modest of neighborhoods' cars had better wnshldwprs. Oh, and I was totally underdressed for the weather and now I'm like compensatorily feverish.

5 comments:

stregata said...: Hope you feel better again real quick!!!
Love that star guy and can't wait to see what he becomes. Drooling over your work in progress, the top piece looks fantastic.; 11/2/10, 12:05 AM
Jennifer Valentine Morford said...: already in love with the "star guy" can't wait to see what he becomes...
thank you for mentioning my here. It means so much to me, and I am sooooo glad you like your little posts. I love the heck out of them. Button earrings are my fave. I have a pair that i wear constantly because they go with everything...
just love seeing your works in progress...like watching beauty being born.
xoxox; 11/2/10, 12:30 AM
fanciful devices said...: yay! that's exactly how it feels- like beauty being born. and im the proud mama.
i never had posts before, always looked dowdy or insignificant on me. somehow, these absolutely work.; 11/2/10, 2:04 AM
~Debi said...: Love the earrings from SacredCake! Awesomesauce? How funny. I've never heard that before. lol All the new thangs look great. Can't wait to see Star guy finished. :); 11/2/10, 11:23 PM
fanciful devices said...: awesomesauce! i picked it up on regretsy.; 11/2/10, 11:26 PM