fanciful devices: bufoar unaftur

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.

2/11/13

bufoar unaftur

So my benefactress charged me with re-doing this paper bead piece that she loved but the red beads were plastic and even worse than they look in this 'before' pic. Plus you can't tell but there's bright gold links all throughout distracting from the goodness. So yeah I took a strand of this amazing coral or whatever it is and re-made it.

(OK, excuse the uberboobs.) I added dangles to each tip, which the original just had empty hoops as the tip ends, and to me that is a no-no.

I managed to use much more coral than the original had used plastic red bead, so I ran out. However, this gave me the chance to add a touch of Victorian to the tribal- a length of book chain. Did you know this stuff is called book chain? I didn't. Another lesson from the wild world web.

Oh and I made some earrings. These were little pendants. The tops slide open. I removed the bottom dangles and the boring glass stone cabs and filled with my own.... my own patron's goodies.

Finally got my mitts on some real-life basha beads. These photos don't do them a bit of justice.

But they're all mixed in with rough apatite, aquamarine, pearls and Roman glass. Even a couple dangles I took off those previous earrings. Finished with a set of spikes from ScorchedEarth. Have you seen some of the awesomeness our little Petra's been coming up with lately?

Bam! And in a similar vein:

My last pair from LydiasLampwork, which I had a lot of fun with.

That's all.

11 comments:

Anvil Artifacts said...: Great earrings! Basha beads, Petra's daggers and Roman glass combined all in one. Fantastic! Just gorgeous.; 2/11/13, 7:33 PM
Beatnheart said...: Your patroness sure is a clever clogs to have you redo her stuff... Niceness for her and you too...

Yum on da basha beeds.

Yes Petra's kickin ass.; 2/11/13, 11:05 PM
taralinda said...: Gor-geous! In love with the bright vs. dark first earrings. (pls. save for me...)
The last 2 are like sunken treasure. Coolness.; 2/12/13, 12:15 AM
Petra Carpreau said...: Woohoo - how gorgeous to be hanging off the bottom of those scrummy clusters! Thanks for the biggin' up, girly - and for making my humle spikes look so glamourous!
x; 2/12/13, 12:21 PM
Anonymous said...: You made beautiful justice to the above necklace. I believe the red beads with black inner core are actually vintage african trade glass. I know many folks who do call them faux coral. I think your patrona should be most happy! Basha beads yummy! I like the wire extensions, makes them classy!!; 2/12/13, 1:24 PM
willowstudio said...: I think the beads you used on the paper necklace are
early venetian glass trades beads called greenhearts.
(Major improvement is putting it mildly.)

And yes, our Petra has been kickin' major butt lately.
Congrats on acquiring a patron BTW--smart lady to
send you her stash.; 2/12/13, 3:23 PM
willowstudio said...: I think the paper necklace re-do is great. (Those beads
you used look like old Venetian greenhearts.)

It sure is nice to see what you do with the patron's stash....; 2/12/13, 3:25 PM
Tribalis said...: You really gave a new life o the paper beads necklace Marina!
Maravilhoso!!!; 2/13/13, 1:15 AM
StaroftheEast said...: Wow, that is some upgrading of the paper beads! It is magnificent now!; 2/13/13, 4:26 AM
Louise said...: I'm loving the rich blue here, your work is awesome!; 2/13/13, 2:04 PM
martinisfor2 said...: I think all of your stalkers would love to see you at work. Do I see a video in a future blog...Hmmmm???
Seriously... all I can picture is the lab in Young Frankenstein... IT'S ALIVE!!!
The first pair of earrings made my head explode they are so fabulous. Do you ever sleep? I can't even get the words I want to say out. arrrggghhhhh... Your patron must anxiously await the mail every day. I'm sure you'll have many more lining up outside your door in worship.
You are our Goddess...; 2/15/13, 1:15 PM