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.

1/11/10

Mega Supply

I have a dirty secret. My latest obsession is with those mega supply stores on etsy, where it seems the factory sells straight to you, thus lowering the price, and the English on the site leaves you wondering if human translators are super expensive in Korea or what. The new, cute suppliers all seem to be from Korea. I'm fascinated by the idea of just buying a charm, hanging it off an ear wire, maybe adding a dangle bead and voila! Not for my shop, though there are tons on etsy that do just this and often charge more than I would dare, and have huge numbers of items, smartly replicating designs, simple, popular designs, and re-listing upon sales. Economically, I can't compete..... No, however, the temptation still exists to make these simple, sweet adornments at least for me and mine.

For fun, lets compare and contrast 2 shops. First is DangsSupply.

Here we are offered 2 pieces of a gold plated bird swing charm, 26 x 32 mm in size, for $4.25.

Then we have Lovely DIY, which offers 5 pieces of a suspiciously similar design in an antiqued bronze finish, 23 by 12mm in size, for $1.90.

This same shop offers these cute birds, 5 for $1.70

Whereas the former offers 4 of these for $4.75.

Obviously the one is much more high-end, and the price reflects that.

Here are some more side-to-sides:

(2 pc for $4.25)

(5pcs $1.60)

And one more:

(5 for $1.30)

(4 for $4.95)

Whatever. I just find it interesting. I have no point, really.

Except that they're really hard to resist. I mean, the really cheap ones. Though the high-end ones would be much better received as gifts by the "mine" section of the aforementioned "me and mine."

But how to resist this cuteness? 5 for a buck thirty?

or this:

or even:

or the back of this as a base for a whole mini assemblage bezel shadowbox thing:

(Why do they put bits of woven straw in every picture?)

Oh, Sparrow, save me from myself!

....

But wait-

Is there something about mega supply that I need saving from? Are my pieces meant to be something authentic, therefore not mass-produced?

But how so, when I use all kinds of tricks to make things look old which aren't old at all?

And I do use mass produced items: cord, ear wires, jump rings... oh, beads... yarn and fabric... wire! lots of wire...

I guess I don't want to be generic, though I shouldn't shun factory-made as a matter of course, either. It's like us "alternative" types, being just as defined by our instant, mindless rejection of mainstream culture as others are by their automatic acceptance of it.

Thing is, there is something about pieces that look like they were cobbled together by bits of things found in different places and times. And all these charms are not that. A few wouldn't kill my shtick, but too many might. Oh, yeah, and I already have a gagillion other projects lined up as always.

My spellcheck is red-underlining gagillion.

I'm having a conversation w/myself, here, on this post. Seems like I do that when I'm posting at 2:30 in the morn'.

1 comment:

Penelope said...: Well, most of them look the same because they all copy each other- some of them are obviously more of a high quality- then the cheapo knock-off factories make the lower quality ones. Asian factories (generalisation time) are actually so quick off the mark that they can release a collection at the same time as the legit people who designed it. Real designers (Louis Vuitton etc) have been known to deliberately leak fake designs of their upcoming collections- so that the knock offs are wrong and can be spotted amongst the real.

Anyway- knock-off lesson aside, sometimes modern stuff works, depending on the pressing. Alot of Asian stuff is pressed from old pieces- I had a cuff with a butterfly on it that was antique, but modern re-pressings of it could be had all over Etsy. I've got feather charms in my stash box that are new, but fit my tribal Victorian thing nicely. Plus as you said- with your super ageing skills, things can look so awesome.

Pretty much the only reasons I don't buy (too many) new things is because I'm guilty for the resources used, and because nothing looks more authentically old than old crap. BUT- having said that, I'm such a sucker for glass beads. Man I could buy glass beads till the cows come home. I get around the eco-guilt by purchasing destash. Sometimes though...so shiny...; 1/18/10, 4:26 AM