fanciful devices: Sicks and tutes and things and stuff.

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.

9/23/14

Sicks and tutes and things and stuff.

So yeah I got sick AGAIN. But I've also been away because I've been working on a -gasp- tute! Fo' realz. Check it:

These are supposed to be earring pairs but when I started thinking about the cover pic, I was wondering about making some really extravagant necklaces sorta how the Cosmic Rocks projects were all presented in necklace form on the cover page for some eye-grabbage.

Here I was even considering a sorta center piece for all the charms to be connected to. But now I'm not loving it, idk.

I've also got a new baby in the studio:

That's a real-life grown-up flex shaft, thank you AnvilArtifacts for helping with the purchase.

It's a trillion times stronger than a dremel and I've been using it to flatten the backs of some Uruguayan geodes that had such huge asses, they'd have just plopped on to their sides if worn in necklaces.

It cut through them like butter... really crazy hard butter.

It still took several times longer than I'd have wished and I tore through a couple bits but that's to be expected.

I've taken a few extra minutes to make some little earrings:

Lots of special bits from all over.

Another pair with these tiny number plaques.

The last of these with RaggedRobyn beads. In this case very simple ear wires with soldering.

And a little pendant with matchbox label and mica.

And as usual I have a ton of half-made things floating around and more ideas than I can ever even begin to hope to turn into reality...

Plus I need another work table in my life, mine's way too crowded. Anyone wanna bring a table over to my house and just put it into my studio for me? Blah, y'all useless!

Oh but not that useless as I've gotten some ideas on tute names here and in convos. Thanks to commenter Cindy L and etsybud Claudia I'm thinking something along the lines of "Starry Shards: Iridescent Soldered Beach Glass Charms, a PDF Tutorial."

*jumps around in glee*

Finally- I command you to run over to Shipwreckdandy's blog and enter her necklace giveaway in support of a friend's new shop. What a great friend.

4 comments:

darlene said...: i love my foredom! I'm sure you'll have some great times together. xoxo; 9/23/14, 7:22 AM
Cindy L said...: Marina, how exciting to have helped you in whatever small way to zero in on a title for your next tutorial!

As artistic people, we connect on such a visceral level with our creations, so they need the right name. We'll all be here waiting for the unveiling! ;); 9/23/14, 8:59 PM
Anvil Artifacts said...: That flex shaft will change your life! Lol. So glad that you're loving it and that my input was helpful. Working on a sparkly new tute when you aren't flattening rocks, eh? Sounds like tons-o-fun. Hahahaha; 9/24/14, 9:39 AM
RomAntiqueSoul said...: You got a Flex Shaft!!! Yay! I LOVE THAT THING...Since I started taking jewelry courses and using it for making my silver shapes better, it has made my life TENFOLDS better! Congrats!
I love the charms you made, but I agree...I'm not sold on the connector above them...
Love the earrings as always!; 9/25/14, 9:50 PM