fanciful devices: Ouch.

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.

5/14/11

Ouch.

Here is something I found on youtube last night:

Left hand hurts too much to type, so eye candy it is:

Through the Dawn Colossal.
Through the Dawn Colossal. Medal and Bone Ring.

Land of the Lords of Brightness.

The Elder Blood.

Rose Petal Vision.

Rose Petal Vision. Salmon and Black Neck Piece.

And in the works:

Since I can't use Mr. Lefty, I sorta just glued all these elements in place. Is that cheating? Nope. It's thinking outside the box.

Don't blink!

5 comments:

Flotsam Tide said...: Everything here is gorgeous! I love the Rose Petal Vision necklace, and those cuffs are wonderful. Land of the Lords of Brightness have a a very cool quarz rain chime thing going on. Nice...; 5/14/11, 6:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Beautiful stuff! I like Rose Petal Vision the best. Very nice.; 5/14/11, 8:15 PM
Unknown said...: I'm loving your creative use of pocketwatch frames, lately. So perfect!; 5/15/11, 12:20 AM
stregata said...: Sigh - eye candy is right!
all these pieces are so inspired, but Land of the Lords of Brightness is so delightful.
Hope you can get your hand back to normal soon...; 5/15/11, 1:42 AM
Penelope said...: SPACEMAN!! AND HE'S DIRTY AND THERE'S SOME TRIBAL WARRIOR AND THE EARTH HAS GONE ALL FALLEN ARRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG *heart attack*

Some huge river of ideas/thoughts/vibes is gooshing all over the place right now, everyon'es pickin' up on this. Even I am swept under!

I feel drunk. And that cuff makes me want to hit something, it's so genius.; 5/15/11, 3:46 AM