fanciful devices: Hi Again

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.

4/7/13

Hi Again

Spring cleaning in the devices household. Mostly consisting of me pulling out my hair and going "It's sooo filthy! How do we live like this!"

Also I was told by 7 year-old Carlos that the reason I sleep in so late and go to bed so late is that I'm an artist. First I laughed then thought about everyone I know and was like, hu.

Also at one point he said, "Nobody's perfect. I mean, maybe you're a perfect artist, but no one's a perfect person."

I'm like, "Yup. Nothing wrong with that statement."

Marcela, 4, asked if she had to be cut out of her mommy's tummy when she was born.

My mom: "No, your mommy had you naturally."

Her: "You mean I came out of her gaina?"

These earrings for Patroness.

And I had a lightbulb moment realizing I had to make her a butt-load of bangle stacks.

Just for the sake of my sanity.

And yeah, this means some very bulky bangles, but sorta balanced out with some thin ones.

After making some of these I re-remembered why these are so awesome.

Just zero thinking involved. As I make more, I'll clear them out and maybe clean up the studio. Cuz I cleaned the rest of the house and moved all the stuff back in there. So now it looks like this:

Yeah, I know. But I realized though that all I really need is one of those 5 hour energy shots (which are just speed to me) and about a week to recover from it. The only reason I was able to clean the house is cuz mom came over and helped. How lame is that? No motivation. Making jewelry and blogging don't require any physical movement, you know, other than hands. Now I can't remember anything else I wanted to say because hubs farted two rooms over and the fumes cleared my brain clean.

7 comments:

Juliette said...: Hahahahaaaaaaaaaaa okay, laughing about the hubs farting.

Carlos is a genius. I like him very much.

OH, and your jewelry? The earrings for your patroness I covet.

xoxo J xoxo; 4/7/13, 9:29 PM
HenrietteWhite said...: Those kids are geniuses! But then, so is their aunt! Love the earrings, top one is my favorite, and that one with the wooden thingies. And all the bangles. Actually, love all these pieces.; 4/8/13, 1:17 AM
Penelope said...: Look at all that sunshine streaming in there, and you've got a light box with a lamp on! You duffer, just put the box in the sun.

I see things in there that are things I have sent you! It's always novel seeing how other people use stuff that you think 'oh what will i do with this crap'. One artist's tired cast-offs is another's exciting treasure,eh? I hate how you got those orange mop spikes to look so good, I couldn't get them to work at all.; 4/8/13, 8:56 AM
Anvil Artifacts said...: Carlos is wise beyond his years, eh? Fab new earrings and big chunky bangles.; 4/8/13, 9:24 AM
martinisfor2 said...: You must make a video of Carlos for all who adore his wit and wisdom to see!

Loving all your new ear fobs and chunky bangles!; 4/8/13, 3:13 PM
Beatnheart said...: what I wouldn’t do for such extraordianary beads like that to make da bangles with....mine are of course lets clean out the junk drawer of odds and ends...but then again that is the main reason for da bangs right? The big clean up. but still real jewels...wow.; 4/8/13, 3:44 PM
Numinosity said...: You're so good at these types of earrings. I'm still working them out and for some reason the first one comes out amazing great and then the next two hours are spent on trying to make the second one work like the first one. Practice, practice I guess.
And your photos....magic!
A whole heap of kim chee love to you!; 4/9/13, 2:25 PM