fanciful devices: Sold

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.

1/31/10

Sold

Nothing gives me a bigger buzz than selling something w/in a day or 2 of posting it! I'm like, yay, I rock! Then some family member has to poop my party all "that just means you didn't charge enough for it." And then they go tell some young children that there's no Santa Claus.

Where was I?

Oh, I sold this crazy thing! Yahoooo! and I thought I charged a good amount for it. Not tons, but not nothing. Not like it took a superhuman effort. It has an appeal to a different buyer, I think- more rocker?

It's a regular ol' leather glove, but turned inside out, cut up, etc. And I still have it's pair. I'll have to look out for more on my upcoming Uruguay trip.

5 comments:

Kerin said...: Congrats!! And, yes, you do definitely rock and I'm sure Santa would agree. ; ); 1/31/10, 10:52 AM
Penelope said...: Man- my mum does the same thing! Magnolia Pearl bought something from me recently and I was all 'omg there's this lady and she's like really famous and has this biiiiiig clothing empire and her stuff looks like what i do but in clothes and a bit fluffier and omg she liked my stuff and she bought THREE things!!!! *flail*

And the first thing my Mum says? 'she wants to copy you.' :/ Yes, thanks Mum- it's not like she just thought I was good. She obviously wants to farm me.; 1/31/10, 7:49 PM
fanciful devices said...: lol. once my mom tried to convince me etsy was a scam. i'm like- a scam where nobody makes any money?; 2/3/10, 4:01 PM
Kelly said...: I love this post...
especially when the sale is something you
just loved creating...you did'nt know who
would get why you created it...your family
looked at you, with that hum..not sure
and then...the sale (someone gets you)
yeah for you!!!!!!kelly; 2/3/10, 5:36 PM
fanciful devices said...: Yeah! I always end up w/a big goofy smile knowing someone gets me.
And recently someone wrote and said she gets lots of compliments and I think- WOW. wow, wow, wow. I'm not weird at all.
oh- and my family isn't "not sure". My mom at least makes a noise like someone who's just swallowed spoiled milk when she looks at my stuff. She's quite sure it's awful! Lol.; 2/8/10, 1:26 AM