fanciful devices: Sacred Hearts.

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.

9/17/10

Sacred Hearts.

NEW-- SPECIAL EDITION//// FANTASTIC MEXICAN FOLK ART ANTIQUED PATINA LARGE VICTORIAN/LUMINOUS HEART MILAGRO

NEW-- SPECIAL EDITION//// FANTASTIC MEXICAN FOLK ART ANTIQUED PATINA EXTRA LARGE FLAMING HEART MILAGRO

MEXICAN FOLK ART ANTIQUED COPPER PATINA FRIDA'S HEART MILAGRO

MEXICAN FOLK ART RELIGIOUS SILVER FLAMING HEART MILAGRO

BEAUTIFUL AND RARE ALL HANDMADE IRIDESCENT TIN PLATE FLAMING/PIERCED HEART MILAGRO

NUN'S HOLY WATER VESSEL WITH ANTIQUE BLACK SPOT PASTE RHINESTONE NECKLACE

Lord of Miracles Vintage Scapular and Sacred Heart Ex Voto Milagro

Rare Devotional Antique Vintage Ex Voto Large Milagro

Love me some ex voto. The loveliest are the most expensive of course. I've always been curious to try making some with sheet metal. So today one of my classes was taking a test. Not wanting to miss a minute of potential making time, I took some embossing copper in my purse.

First a bunch of doodles on the back of some vocabulary sheets.

Then on to some free-hand embossing. Ended up overdoing it right at the middle and it broke, but I can fix it. I'm gonna cut it like the middle doodle and oxidize the hell out of it. Then pack it with spackle, figure out where to stick it. I got a couple pocket watch covers rolling around somewhere...

3 comments:

Spirited Earth said...: i love this post,funny too about taking the sheet metal to school.
love your heart collection.
i bet you could carve a design out of some wood then hammer the sheet metal onto that for the repousse look.; 9/17/10, 7:56 AM
stregata said...: Fantastic sacred heart! Can't wait to see the finished piece.; 9/17/10, 11:58 PM
fanciful devices said...: Thank you guys!
yeah, wood is seriously neglected by us jewelry makers, other than in bead-form. I gotta think about that.; 9/19/10, 5:20 PM