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.

5/27/11

Seen the new etsy listing tool? Is it a tool or a page? Either way, when I went to list these:

Sadness which of course is joy. Religious Medal Earrings.

Sadness which of course is joy.

No One Hears It. Necklace.

No One Hears It.

When I went to list those I was all surprised and disoriented. Kept thinking I must be forgetting something. Sure went a lot faster. And, as I keep telling my Mexican students, in this country, time is money! And then they laugh. It's easy to make them laugh.

So, since the ol' hands aren't working too well, and what's more, I have a little niece and nephew visiting for the next few days, I thought I'd offer some more loot. This might just be the most purely 'destash' lot, but we'll see if anyone's interested.

Now, if you are interested, click for larger images.

Cuz I'm thinking I'm too sleepy to add descriptions.

'cept to say this is from Uruguay.

And that's a clay pipe stem from London peeking out there.

And Uruguay.

Teeeeny.

What, can't you read? It clearly says "TWEENEEN HALVE BKJFYDUDMBNKBURWT......"

Faux cinnabon. Delicious hot, cinnabon from the Chinese tradition.

A buncha microscope slides, and stuff.

From India.

From Afghanistan.

From Uruguay.

Film roll, big baby blue drop and ring I've opened from Opulent Oddities.

Yup, a bed from an old printers block stamp. 2 bones. AB grey seed beads, a little tiny fish plate.

A compass thing, coin, antique watch face...

Wasn't I going to not describe this? Let's go back to that shall we?

The following were taken at night, thus ... thus I'm too sleepy to think of how to end sentences.

Fish buckle.

Sooooooooo........ any interest? $35? $40?

3 comments:

Penelope said...: I could take- there's about 50% of that is useful to me, but I'd pay $30 for it and then just tell you what to leave out so the shipping is cheaper? (Which I assume I'll pay for.) Most of the really heavy shit I can't use anyway.

SO what DO you need now? Cause you know I've always gotta bucket of stuff with 'fanci' written on it.; 5/28/11, 2:24 AM
Marin said...: I'd be down for the rest, the really heavy shit, 'specially if its metal. Holla.; 5/28/11, 10:25 AM
richelle said...: Looks like it's pretty much spoken for, but I would be interested in any/all of the beads you've shown if there are leftovers.; 5/28/11, 8:33 PM