fanciful devices: I was bad

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.

3/20/11

I was bad

Hey guess what? Yesterday I went nuts and made seven pairs of earrings and a necklace. It started with me having to go into my studio to wrap packages, and next thing I know its 3:30 am and I'm sitting on a pile of projects.

Strangely my hands don't feel so bad, since I had been resting them and I heated them well overnight.

More than anything it was my atrophied lower arm muscled that ached a bit.

Oh, I can't wait for tomorrow!

I haven't listed any of these yet, but hopefully by the end of the day...

The day will never end, though. My surgery is at 6 am so I'll be getting up before 5, and last night I got to bed at 4.... You do the math.

I've been enjoying some asymmetrical earring-making. Don't these look like little owls? The piece on the left is a hinge!

This was a lid of a tin I've had forever. Really, it belonged to an ex but got tossed in with my stuff during the tumultuous move that led me back to Chicago, which in turn led to medical treatment, which in turn led to me being able to make jewelry in the 1st place! Yay tumultuous break-up!

Here you can better see how they were a lid of an old tobacco tin. I broke one of my own cardinal rules in choosing this odd rectangular shape.... See, I always encourage any jewelry-maker or artist that will listen to mess it up and not be scared of ruining a piece. You'll ruin it by not messing with it. Don't get attached to elements in their original, pristine condition. Sacrifice your original idea for the good of the piece! But, the shape of the above earrings is what it is just because it keeps the most amount of the lid possible. I feel like my sentences aren't making sense. That is, the earrings use as much of the lid as possible without cutting out any negative space as would have been the case had I used, say, this shape:

Odd. Large Tin Earrings CUSTOM for Opulent Oddities.

Ok, but the lid was so awesome I couldn't bring myself to do what I always preach! Damn!
Wow, am I ever tired of talking about that.

Also, I've been getting such sweet notes and comments and convos- thanks you guys. Of course Mr. Husband had to say, "They just wanna see new things!" Man, he's been spending way too much time with my family.

4 comments:

Flotsam Tide said...: Everything here is pure eye candy! I like your musings about sacrifices when it comes to solidifying an idea. Your hubby is right in that I rejoice to see new things, but at the same time I love chatting to you about obscure Vietnamese mountain hill tribes, and ice cream. Sending you lots of love and good wishes for Monday's surgery. Lady you seriously rock even when injured.; 3/20/11, 6:27 PM
Regina said...: Lots of good wishes for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.; 3/20/11, 6:32 PM
Venus Soberanes said...: I also send you my best wishes for your surgery, and a speedy recovery. Courage!; 3/20/11, 7:15 PM
jamberry_song said...: Gorgeous stuff! I'm loving the colors in these. And they say rules are meant to be broken, even your own, I suppose.

Hope the surgery went well! <3 Here's to a quick recovery!; 3/21/11, 8:46 PM