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.

12/22/10

Hi all. Here's what I've been working on.

Here's a piece of wood salvage in a bezel. It actually looks pretty cool. Gonna take some close ups tomorrow.

Here a heart/hook that I got from Uruguay. That tiny antique spoon below and the brooch connected to it is from Uruguay as well.

Also includes some cute gem heishi, which I luuuuuve. Totally stole that idea from Deryn Mentock.

This focal is from a Virginia fea market, fabric from Sparrow bullion from fancylinda. Which more about later.

Bottle o' roses with a soldered seal around the top.

Can you see it?

I showed you this last time, 'member?

Here's the bezel I made for the vintage tobacco tin (from Hummingbirdeyes). What you can't see is how you can tell it's all the way at the bottom, w/little bits of grunge caught at different places throughout the layers of embossing resin.

Here some handmade Indian beads interspersed w/hammered bits o' Indian bangles. Huh. Just realized that's 2 Indian things in one piece. Anyways, the focal is an old metal printing block stamp from an old press. The neighborhood I live in used to be riddled w/them. This the name "Printer's Row."

So, I got a package of goodies from fancylinda today. Up there you see some antique French jet, which I've decided is the coolest thing in the universe. Somehow it looks nothing like glass or anything else.

OK, so, but, wait. I ordered about half these delightful bits. She threw the other half in just because.

Because what? Because I have an enormous amount of crazy good karma saved up from past lives. Specifically how miserable I was before the meds. I think.

2 comments:

stregata said...: This is Christmas come early! Soooo gorgeous! OMG I just drooled all over my keyboard....; 12/22/10, 3:11 AM
Linda said...: You are completely amazing!; 12/22/10, 2:26 PM