fanciful devices: All Up!

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.

6/19/11

All Up!

Inocciduous.
Oh how I hate pricing things.

To Ecstasiate the Ephydriad.

To Ecstasiate the Ephydria...
So, I'm going off the fact of these being totally one of a kind materials that can only be gotten after a plane trip. And are made of silver and gold. Yup.

Magastromancy. Bell and Semiprecious Cylinder.

Magastromancy. Bell and Semiprecious Cylinder.

Magastromancy. Bell and Se...
But it's not about the intrinsic value of materials or amount of labor put in, it's about how much you can get and I don't know how many folks are out there who'd spend that on these.

Bringing Forth the Fire.
I guess we'll see! I don't mind them sticking around a while.

Beauty for a Heart Like Mine.
Meanwhile- happy father's day! Yeah, cuz there are so many men, not to mention fathers, trolling this blog I'm sure.

A Victor King.
I hope you are all having as lovely a weekend as I am.

Essomenic Graocracy.
But with less dog-pestering-to-go-outside-ness.

The Cave of Night.
And with that, Imna go walk Bingo.

The Stone of Sisyphus.

5 comments:

Tina said...: Oh crap, I LOVE The Stone of Sisyphus. Really, all of the ones with the yerba mate gourd rings -- they came out so well.

Glad to hear you are doing/feeling better as well!; 6/19/11, 7:11 PM
Louise said...: Your work is wonderful! I love your new pieces. :); 6/19/11, 7:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Wow! You've really outdone yourself with the new pieces. My favorite is "Beauty for a Heart Like Mine".; 6/19/11, 7:50 PM
Linda said...: you are either going to bankrupt me or send me straight to hell for coveting so many things. well, i guess i'm doing the spending and coveting so i'll send myself. dang, wanted to blame you. you, you criminally creative genius woman, you.; 6/20/11, 10:01 AM
Marin said...: EEEEeeeeeeee!!!!!!!; 6/20/11, 11:40 AM