fanciful devices

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.

5/6/10

Goodies in the mail

From a very neat shop I discovered called beadsandpieces.com. They found me, I got mail from them out of the blue and it's been the best spam ever. Everything I got was super cheap except the hessonite heishi. At only $10, they were my big splurge.

The bone hoops were all laquered and darker than expected, so I've been sanding this one down and so far, so good. I want to pair these w/my shmacy bits from my haul, thus getting the Victorian Tribal thany I'm going for of late.

5/4/10

Front page

here's something that was on the front page w/o my knowing about it.

Too bad I don't know the name of the treasury. It features my flowering sugar drops.

hey- a widget of a front page i was on

5/3/10

Thanks

here

Thank you guys for your sweet comments! I have sort of rested my hands today and that really helped. Of course, I couldn't stop myself from posting the things I showed you yesterday and then I had to type at work.... And now just clicking around for these hand images, they're getting sore again. I'm glad to hear 2 of you have had CT surgery and been fine. My doctor, who also happens to be my mom, is a drama queen exaggerator. I think she thinks if she scares me I'll quit with my awful art addiction and cook, clean and get a full time job. I also got a brace/splint that doesn't actually worsen the pain, some heat pads and heated pain rub. Plus, a buyer through etsy has recommended a therapeudic massage school w/low rates and it turns out to be just a few blocks from my house!

here.

5/2/10

things i cant post in shop b/c my hands hurt too much

my carpal tunnel is back w/a vengence. they say i wont be able to get injections again. now the option is surgery after whitch i wouldnt have full mobility or wouldnt be able to do the motions that hurt my hands. which is everything. including wiping my ass after a poop. so right now i'm in shock. and my left hand hurts just from taking these pix and clicking around to edit them.

i'd describe some of these, but, y'know. soul-destroying pain.

here are all my 5 pictures of each thing, ready for etsy. but all the typing is too painful.

ok, this is a bit funny. i soooo wanted to make smthng despite pain so i 'made' this:

which is basically a pendant on a strip of rag. i'd already ripped, dyed and waxed it before. ok, so it isn't SO un-artful- i did have to mess w/the fabric. its from an old bandage wrap