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.

9/3/12

P.S.- If there's no link, it's not listed and we can talk. (If by talk you mean buy it without making me come up with a whole listing with tags and descriptions. That alone gives you a $5 discount. Another $5 if I don't have to measure it and you can do with the size reference photo. Except these discounts mean nothing since all prices are pulled directly out of my ass.)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: Do you trade?; 9/3/12, 3:28 AM
Lorelei Eurto said...: HAHAHAHAHAH I can totally relate to this on so many levels.; 9/3/12, 6:37 AM
Numinosity said...: Yes, I love it when you can bypass the whole pic-taking and descriptions which takes sprucing up the dusty corners of my brain and worktable.
...and yes, I can relate on the ass pulling pricing too when it comes to jewelry.; 9/3/12, 1:08 PM
antArtiste said...: Thank you..... because I feel guilty having the same ideas....!!! :)OUF; 9/5/12, 7:16 AM
Penelope said...: Don't we all consult our arse when pricing? I thought it was common...I mean how can we possibly follow that 'materials+ labour= x times 3' bullshit? It would be 'okay...there's a pendant I made from a $1 necklace...oh but it's only a quarter of the necklace, so...25c...then this chain cost nothin cause i found it on the street...and fanci gave me those beads. Took me 10 minutes to make it...so this necklace is worth $4.80! Bargain. And there would be other necklaces that took 8 hours to make because I did it then decided I hate it and took it apart and reworked it, then it sat in the shop for 3 weeks and I feared no one liked it so I re-worked it again... that one is worth $564.; 9/5/12, 11:41 AM
Anvil Artifacts said...: Sparrow, you have the actual formula! Impressive.; 9/6/12, 11:43 AM