fanciful devices: Any Questions?

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.

7/4/11

Any Questions?

Good question Debbie! Did everyone hear Debbie's question? (This is how I encourage my tragically shy Mexican students to ask questions, I make it a big deal and get all excited over it.)

The question is how do I start? Generally it's all about the supplies. When I obtain a new object I'm always thinking what it could be made into. My head speeds along, picturing it in different configurations. These mate tops for example:

In case you have no idea what these are, here are some examples of mate (pronounced with the 'e' in 'let'):

The metal tops are just decorative.

ANYWAYS

I knew pretty much right away they would make good necklace focals. One tried and true design for me is the focal-with-dangling-element, so I naturally started wondering what to dangle. Also because just the round piece seemed... too round? I was also wondering what to do with the bazzilion stones I got while in Uruguay:

And then went "DUH" and paired them together:

Generally, it's the supplies that begin the process, certainly not an abstract idea. To refer to the previous post, the "design principle" or color scheme reveals itself as I put different elements next to each other, take others away, and generally try different combinations. I think an artist is fascinated by what s/he can make his/her media do. So a musician is fascinated with sounds, an architect with cement and wood. etc.

My favorite thing of all is when two or more ideas come together. That is to say, I have a vague idea for what I'd like to do with one element and another idea about a couple of beads when suddenly the light goes on and I realize I can combine the two. I had gotten the cord knowing it was good for pieces with strong focals. I had gotten the mate gourd tops as focals. I had gotten the gemstones as hanging stuff. Voila. But with all the gillions of odds and ends I have, this wasn't so clear to begin with. The key to these was to keep them simple, which is not easy for me.

Essomenic Graocracy.

While I was at it, I saw one of these wacky bulbous pearl drops lying about which I'd started to think were going to be too big for anything. Good thing it was out and visible because It was just big enough for a focal-centric piece. So another "technique" is to have tons of crap lying everywhere. If you keep your goodies in sight, you might be surprised at how a random element suddenly pairs with the piece you're working on. Generally if I have multiples of anything, I keep some out and tuck some away. This way, I know what I have without an avalanche of beads burying me each time I go into my work area. But I do forget and some drawer-rummaging is always good.

Lol- I love how my tone is of utmost seriousness here. Like everyone should do it the way I do.

In any case, thanks for the question Debbie. (By the way, nice new avatar- though I do miss feeling like you were specifically flirting with me whenever I saw your old one. You tease.)

Happy 4th y'all.

4 comments:

~Debi said...: Another great post! Thank you for answering my question. I mostly start with a supply screaming "I want to be made into this!" as well. Sometimes though I do have a concept of what I want to make... a piece for a purpose, such as a talisman type necklace.

And yes, of course I was flirting with just you with my avatar ;) Now everyone knows! *blush*; 7/5/11, 2:07 PM
Jackie said...: Oh Fanci, thank you so much for sharing, you're a great teacher! I'm a bit overwhelmed with all this new insight. I did my homework and that certainly turned on some lights for me. You really should consider teaching an online course. Now if I could figure out how to set up Etsy and Blogger I'll be good to go.
...Jackie xo; 7/5/11, 3:12 PM
betweenreader said...: I think you have to admit Ms. Fanci, that part of your process is in the recognition of the objects. You know how they pull on you, even before you know what you can do with them? Thanks for the hint about keeping them visible, but how do I get in and out of the room?; 7/5/11, 4:54 PM
Penelope said...: "Generally, it's the supplies that begin the process, certainly not an abstract idea."

YES. I've never made anything from a previous design in my head. It's usually just about sitting down, spreading all the bits out in front of you and then just playing. Sometimes I can take up to 3 hours or even a few days before I'm happy with a design. But it helps to have a big a work surface as you can manage and ideally one you don't have to clean off (ie not the kitchen table) so you can leave it to stew for days. Unless you live on your own, which I did not long ago and so the kitchen table was covered in mixed media for about a month. But I got lots done!

I love that your combining your natural teaching vibe with your art. You're a gem!; 7/6/11, 3:15 AM