fanciful devices: Doin' ma thang

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.

1/5/15

Doin' ma thang

I made a poop-load of riveted bangles:

And I've divided them up into sets of three by size.

I've just been too lazy to take proper pictures and list.

And with the snow-stormy weather, the light hasn't been motivating me either.

But I've been busy making away as always. Here's this big chunky necklace:

Here's this cool-ass bracelet with a big shimmery piece of Roman glass which looks to once have been the edge of a bottle base:

I finally figured out a way to finish this cuff that's actually functional and attractive:

Though it still needs a touch of oxidizing along with like a million other bits of wrist candy I have waiting to go:

And these too.

I've been super busy taking care of these fools:

While my parents are off visiting Uruguay with my sister and bro-in-law who are taking the kids there for the very first time. They're getting to know all their new cousins:

And some new fuzzy relatives as well:

And you can thank my mom for that big ol' finger there as well.

Now it's time to catch up on some gifs:

3 comments:

Unknown said...: What wonderful new things! I love the riveted bangles and the roman glass bracelet.
Inspiring stuff.; 1/6/15, 9:06 PM
Mavis said...: Pretty please make a riveted bangle tutorial.; 1/7/15, 6:33 PM
CraftyHope said...: Oh those riveted bangles are awesome!! Here's hoping the winter blues don't keep you down long. Oh, and the gifs. . .that one with the bird, just work my husband up so he could see it too. So funny!; 1/7/15, 10:35 PM