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.

4/30/13

Me opening studio door after being gone 3 days:

So instead of cleaning I made this for my patronia.

Because the holes on these skulls are big, I used two eyepins in each. Easier than cutting my own from scratch in bigger gauge wire. Always the short-cuts for me.

Also this cuff was fun. Tin from Uruguay, shaded tourmaline, scalloped edge from old glove. In case you're curious about how I attached it:

You can make out some thin wire stitching if you click the image to enlarge. Then I wet it and the leather molded itself right against the cuff perfectly.

Also some little boxes, insides leafed, with rough garnet and rainbow titanium druzy for the Patroness. She likes the leaf.

And they're in this vintage-y painted tin one of my students gave me.
That's all.
Oh damn! I forgot. I also finished this guy:

I'd been working on it previously then it got lost in the shuffle.

I added some beads and strandy chain.

And darkened the putty the raku face cab was anchored with. Now that's all.

5 comments:

Jiorji said...: woah this is weird!! i just make some vintage tin bezel cups today ..like the ones in the last pictures..creepy!! except i put some other things in them. but still. weird.

duuuudeee our minds are ....THE SAME!! :D (ok definitely not cos you're ten times more advanced with your experiments)

and that cuff is delicious!; 4/30/13, 3:03 PM
Beatnheart said...: not much said ie teaching experience...I guess I expected a whole blog about it...maybe like tiny pony you are still finding your feets and processing it like the fancy people say.; 4/30/13, 5:30 PM
HenrietteWhite said...: Welcome back home! And pleeeeze tell us more about your teaching experience!

And...... have you ever considered teaching a class in, say......, Amsterdam? I'll definitely be the first to enroll!!; 5/1/13, 9:30 AM
Penelope said...: Dude that foal- I think I watched it fall down like, 20 times. I WANT PICTURES OF THE STUDIO. Seriously- show us the horror, it might help. It will help me, I like to look at mess. From the safety of distance.; 5/1/13, 10:32 AM
Unknown said...: The garnet nuggets in the tins are cool - my fav from this set, but then I'm kind of an earring girl. The foal is precious and I'm with Sparrow - I've got horror all over the house and not making progress. UGH!; 5/1/13, 8:59 PM