fanciful devices: More Chunk.

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.

1/25/13

More Chunk.

I think I got my mojo back today. In any case I got a lot of pictures taken. Imna show you this massive necklace I put together after a friend was complaining that there's not good waist-length necklaces out there.

Dark Flow.

I just decided to go over the top and toss in everything remotely dark colored I had. Kind of how I make bangles by first sorting out colors.

Although in fact it's not easy to get one of these guys to hang nicely. There has to be a balance and a sort of cascade effect that can be quite a bitch to get right.

I can't get a decent picture of this to save my life!

Why bother... moving on.

To another piece I can't get a decent image of...

That's an astronomer and God's hand holding out a star overhead.

And if I thought those were hard, the next two pieces had me disavowing bracelet-making for good.

The Old Astronomer.

Yeah, these are some cool replica coins that I may have distressed to death.

The originals looked like this: Byzantine Michael III Solidus 842-867 AD brass replica coin

Bohemia John the Blind Florin 1310-1346 brass replica coin

From here.

And then this one: Your Own Myth. Cosmic Gypsy Iridescent Assemblage Bracelet Cuff with gold leaf, vintage antique found objects.

Your Own Myth.
Your Own Myth. Cosmic Gypsy Iridescent Assemblage Bracelet Cuff with gold leaf, vintage antique found objects.

Still need to put a drop of superglue in the spots the balls screw into the bars on the body jewelry...

Oh and a few rings from yesterday. Kiss the Ground. Raw Amethyst crystal on chunky oxidized ring.

Kiss the Ground.

The Cave of Night.
The Cave of Night. Rough, raw amethyst chunk and Buffalo tooth in rectangular ring. Primitive, modern.

Where You Fear to Live.

Gotta go jam wit ma boyz now...

5 comments:

Juliette said...: Crunk is like some serious old school. Thanks for the video, it took me back to NYC circa 1984, just waiting for someone to start a break!

Anyway, LOVE the necklace. Just scored some serious goodies today from a good friend, a bag of old ivory Mah Jongg (sp?) pieces! And some dog teeth. Can't WAIT to get some necklaces made, and take some decent pictures (hopefully). xoxo; 1/26/13, 12:09 AM
HenrietteWhite said...: Love that massive necklace!!! Your are so very creative!!
Have a nice weekend.; 1/26/13, 4:54 AM
Beatnheart said...: that music drives me nuts...wish those boys had tighter pants on. when i was a girl the boys wore tight pants and they looked a lot cuter...look at old pics of the 60s dudes and you will se what i mean. besides dat...they really are great dancers...i liked crizzle.
that big ole neck lace is gonna need a strong woman plysicallly to wear it cause its not exactly dainty.; 1/26/13, 6:55 PM
Shel said...: Oh, that necklace,...I'm drooling. It's about the coolest ever! I bet it was a 'B' to get to lay right, too - but it sure looks awesome. Your cuffs are all neat looking too and I think the photos look fine. And the rings are heaven - LOVE those!; 1/27/13, 9:02 AM
CraftyHope said...: You've got so many awesome details in that necklace. I could just stare at it for. . .a while taking it all in. I just might do that.; 1/27/13, 9:04 PM