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.

Barathrum. Barathrum. Necklace.

I'm all excited about these earrings. First, I finally figured out what to do with the wired beads I mentioned a couple weeks ago. Fancylinda sent a convo w/an example of wired beads that looked nothing like these but made me realize they had to be connected to something hard and stable. Thanks girl!
Selcouth. Papered Filigree Earrings.

Selcouth.
I cut a big round filigree in half, sanded, oxidized. Then I papered it with watery white glue. Then I had to burn all that off b/c the paper was too crispy and not flexible/strong enough to really wrap around the filigree curves. The burning with my hardware heat gun made the whole house stink and created two big burn marks on my floor. OK, so then I found the right paper and had to do all the little holes. Dremel, baby. But then I learned an exacto knife first is best. But then I had to re-oxidize all the parts filed back to shiny by the dremel. Then topcoat glue seal. Then wire in the beads. Hammer the sterling ear wires. Scratch my butt. Drink some coffee. Fall back on the weird-word-titles for lack of inspiration.... Pick my nose....

6 comments:

Flotsam Tide said...: The Selcouth earrings are incredible! Perhaps I need to scratch my butt, and drink more coffee to come up with your kind of brilliance.; 2/1/11, 7:06 PM
Anonymous said...: The earrings are fantastic! And truly your own - absolutely nothing like the picture I sent.; 2/1/11, 10:41 PM
stregata said...: Yes, really, no one realizes the amount of work that goes into jewelry - to say nothing of the expense of coffee and the damage done to body parts from other body parts. LOL And we won't even mention the damage to the floor...
Fantastic solution, I am drooling once again.; 2/2/11, 12:00 AM
jamberry_song said...: Hahahaha! You're quite wonderful, you know that? :3; 2/2/11, 10:46 AM
~Debi said...: I truly love reading your blog entries. Girl, you are the most real artist I know. (and my favorite) Both pieces are awesome. Thanks for sharing your creative process on the earrings...even the funny parts; 2/2/11, 7:48 PM
Chelsea (TangoPig) said...: Okay, I'm really in love with the paper over filigree. I wonder if that could be done with my collection of triple-exposed photos that i have for some reason. Probably too stiff.; 2/4/11, 6:58 AM