fanciful devices: Polyannas

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.

5/9/14

Polyannas

Got some new polys photoed today.

How are all you ladies? Feel like I haven't been really in touch with you all in a while.

Oooh lookit these with the gold insides. They have a cool choppy quality.

Another pair of Gnome caps.

A set with a really big cap like for a pendant.

Cuz it's my hot body, I do what I want.

Here's some big hole rings- sliders? Lampwork folk call them sliders. Like they're some kinda White Castle burgers or something.

See? Holes. And a bit of iridescence that you can't see oh well.

Another set but I had to fix the top of the cap after I took this so can only show the pic w/o the cap top.

Glitz and Grime... hey! I think I just came up with a name for these.

Grit and Glitter. Gutter Glam. Grungy G... Greg.... (ran out of Gs).

Here's some earring pairs. As you can see, I worked in a mix of grits of gold glass glitter. Whoa- it's an alliteration situation all across the nation.

Some connectors.

Simple head pins cuz why not? You can't tell me what to do, you're not my real mom.

Speaking of which, the new member of the fam:

Dorian. Not a great picture but I'll probly be accosting you with more in the future. He's the sweetest most loving cat I've ever known. Why he gotta look so grumpy in the pikchur?

Chiquita reacted thusly:

Ha! I wish. Actually she hissed her face off. It was scary. We're keeping them separated for a while.

Now it's time for me eats.

7 comments:

Vintajia Adornments said...: Oh Gutter Glam . . . . YESSSSSS!!; 5/9/14, 11:14 PM
Unknown said...: omfg! luuuuuuuuuurve.

Glitz and grime are my fave.
Along with the headpins.

bioutiful. As always :); 5/10/14, 4:19 AM
Betsi Goutal said...: Glitz and grime. ♥ Those beads, that name... pretty much sums up why I love your work. You balance the two so damn beautifully it honest-to-gosh takes my breath away sometimes.

(Also, hi! Long time no comment. Life got busy. Weirdly, I got polymer clay obsessed right about when you did, totally independent of your influence. Psychic linkage?? Whatwhat? I should post some pics of my latests to my blerg, checked out that Jupiter tute you mentioned several posts back and had me some grand fun.)

How ever have you survived the past couple month without my inane adulations? :D Love ya! ...and Captain Dorian Devices. What a handsome fella!

P.S. The gold-inside caps look like they are from fairy acorns!; 5/10/14, 8:00 PM
Unknown said...: Love the gold inside caps too. Now, is this the new cat? He isn't a kitten is he????; 5/10/14, 8:53 PM
Unknown said...: I'm in love with every fancy thingy of yours! Thanks for sharing the bangle tut, I can't wait to be back in a couple of weeks to try the other tuts... Brain overloads of idea waves *sigh*.; 5/11/14, 8:35 PM
Unknown said...: Please give us more pics of your new mister. Would love to see more of him being a cute boy. Or...just being, whatever.; 5/15/14, 1:40 AM
The Wood and Watch said...: Hey there! We've chatted via Etsy (TheWoodandWatch... chick with parrot on her head?). Anyways, I was just at the super fantastic Waterworks Museum in Boston, which is quite inspiring, and I definitely think you would enjoy it, too: http://www.renaissancerestorations.com/aphotography/bostonwaterworks/bostonwaterworks003.jpg. Google image search it for tons of industrial goodness. One element in particular reminded me so much of your caged earrings, but I didn't get to snap a pic.; 6/2/14, 4:49 PM