fanciful devices: It went really well.

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.

4/21/14

It went really well.

Mr. D thinks I'm such a smarty pants now.
And this is what it feels like to be back in my own bed-

Niece Marcela is here for a week and says she wants to be an "autis like Mawina" because she too wants to stay home everyday, go to bed late and sleep all morning. Oh, and also make "pwetty things."
At some point she said she'd also have a baby and I said she couldn't because artists are poor and babies are expensive. She rolled her eyes and said, "You don't buy babies." She won that round.

So now y'all have to wait a while til I make any new things. So there was no point to this. That hedgehog tho.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: welcome home, I have missed you , glad all went well wish I could have heard you talk. have fun with your family; 4/21/14, 8:08 AM
Juliette said...: Missed you! Glad you're back. xo; 4/21/14, 1:51 PM
shelly said...: my world sucks right now...fking cancer has invaded my husband's brain... i come to your blog to see the beauty in your creations and to be humored by your frankness and sense of humor that is so fresh and honest... i believe we were sisters in another life... keep on trucking and creating.; 4/22/14, 2:16 PM
Unknown said...: eat, do nothing except what you want to do and rejuvenate. Wear your fuzzy slippers too.

Welcome Home; 4/24/14, 4:14 AM
Motif Records said...: Good rreading; 12/30/23, 4:22 AM