fanciful devices: Patience

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.

9/10/13

Patience

Y'all will have to be patient for a bit. I've been working on a tute and that takes sooooooooo much time. Plus gotten ill during a horrific heat-wave with the AC broken. So I'm waiting for the repair guys while sweltering. I need to go downstairs were it's cooler but, oh, the 'puter's siren song!

10 comments:

gretchen said...: so sorry about the AC! I hope you have someplace cool to sleep? that's the worse. Get well soon!; 9/10/13, 1:40 PM
Sandra said...: Ohohoh, did I just read "tutorial"? Gimme!! :D; 9/10/13, 2:34 PM
La Fileuse said...: Look at this picture ! Your new camera is terrific !; 9/10/13, 5:27 PM
Laura Flowers said...: I'm in Waukegan, so I feel your pain on the heat. Our landlord tells us that the AC "just can't handle the heat" but balks at actually doing anything about it. So on a 95 degree day it is around 83 in our house. Better than outside, but still damned uncomfortable. Hope your AC gets fixed soon and properly. You know, so it can handle the heat ;); 9/10/13, 8:23 PM
Lela said...: Very cool ring! Nice depth of field on the photo too!
Feel better.; 9/10/13, 9:02 PM
Beatnheart said...: Oh i hate the heat...autumn is in the air here, but we had heat too...ugh; 9/11/13, 3:50 PM
Unknown said...: Being ill is the pits. Being ill with no air-con must be mucho-pits (I have no idea, I live in the UK and when I went on holiday we had air-con and I had to turn it off because the noise annoyed me and the cold air made my shoulders hurt.) Be well soon.; 9/11/13, 4:01 PM
Kathy Barrick said...: Feel better very soon and good luck with the a/c. And: I. Want. That. Ring. Seriously!; 9/12/13, 10:15 AM
Unknown said...: Uh, are you eating enough of Mom's good food? Getting enough fresh air? I know you probably aren't sleeping enough....okay, I know I'm nagging. Get well - stay cool - I know the weather has broken since I live across the lake from you. Open the window - sleep well. Dang, guess I wasn't done nagging (uh, worrying???).; 9/12/13, 9:56 PM
martinisfor2 said...: being w/o ac sux. they always crap out when you need them most. been there. hope it's already fixed.

loving the earrings!!! <--- just had to do it. ;) and, waiting for the tute.; 9/14/13, 9:10 AM