fanciful devices: Previews

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.

8/14/11

Previews

Hi all.

I had no idea spam was coming from this blog out to you Lorelei. Oh, that's bad. No clue what to do about it. Anyone?

I took some pics in really weird lighting. This one below doesn't even look quite real. Tomorrow I'll take some shots when the sun isn't setting.

It's called The Octopus because look- all the feet! OK, I just realized that doesn't make sense. While it is many feet, it's not eight, so.... Looks like a shoe lost-and-found, actually. Notice I added one of my new spiritedearth babies?

But yay for finally finding a friggin' use for that friggin' monopoly sneaker! Lordamighty I've had that damned thing forever. Now if I could find a use for the boat, the mini thimble and whatever others I still have around. I used to have the hat and car and dog, too. But I refuse to make a monopoly-themed piece! It's been done. It was lovely but I don't need to revisit someone else's thoroughly-explored idea.
(No offense if you're making a game-themed piece as we speak. Oops.)

Here I wanted to get back in touch with my monochromes.

These are already spoken for if you can believe it.

A little color crept in.

OK. I've been making quite a few bracelets lately and I've realized how hard they are to photograph. Unlike earrings or necklaces, they don't have a clear front side. I really like that about them put it's not so good in a 2 dimensional medium. Photos, I mean- keep up. So I'm always trying to get it all in. Like here I used a piece from these antique suspenders - from Uruguay, of course. There's a button going through the button slit that links at it's shank to a lovely bead you may have seen before. It looks good on, but if you lay it flat the leather overlaps the button... Gaaa- I'm tired of explaining this not-so-interesting point. Make up your own end to this paragraph, you guys are a smart bunch- you can do it!

Oh and then there's this clusterfuck that has a huge honkin' green coral chunk I gotta remove. It makes the whole thing cock-eyed. So off it goes. Maybe those chunky rounds, too. Waaaay too much going on here.

Here's a thing with a thing....

Ga-damn beads look neon in this weird light. And this is after all kinds of Photoshoppage. But, anyways, the locket is a double-sided piece that opens by turning the top bit.

So I put a vintage stamp on either side. Hmmm... I just realized the back one doesn't match anything- it's a light rust- and I have these wacky purple antique stamps that would turn this into a truly double sided piece. Indeed....

So look. Notice the clasp?

<---Also this one. They're from a purse supply store- they swivel! I'm very excited over them. Just cuz they're something different. Always looking for something different....

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hi, I am getting virus-ey emails from you too. I'm not sure what you can do about it if anything. I love the new pieces!; 8/14/11, 9:36 PM
richelle said...: Yes--I received a virus email from your yahoo account email address. I think it just sends out emails to every single person in your address book. You've probably already changed your passwords, but if not, that would be the first thing to do.; 8/14/11, 11:06 PM
Michelle York said...: Having morning coffee and looking at your new art. An infusion of creativity.; 8/15/11, 9:23 AM
Penelope said...: How come I didn't get no spam? I'm not good enough for your evil twin? I just checked my spam folder, so that's where my tumblr notifications are now! Stupid email.

Also, I NEED THE HAT. On a necklace- a nice delicate one. I shall convo.; 8/16/11, 3:22 AM
Lorelei Eurto said...: that bracelet with the leather and the keyhole, is the COOLEST!! love it! great design!; 8/22/11, 5:54 AM