fanciful devices: What, MORE?

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.

5/11/11

What, MORE?

Blindsight.

I realized us gals just want sparkly. Never had an item with rhinestones take long to sell. Plus the contrast with the rustic leather.
Not that it's all about selling, of course. I don't know what it's all about. Though it is jewelry, it does have to be appealing after all.

I've been getting some grief lately about my prices being too low, so I'm raising them again. Which makes me think only rich people can buy the stuff and that they should be giving the $$ to charity.
That makes no sense. Happens where you're raised by ex-socialists. Expensive things seem innately bad.

The Alien Brain.

That and I'm a natural cheapy cheapskate, so I only shop at Target. So I never see jewelry for more than 15 bucks.

What do y'all think of the big-ass pictures?

It's all a psychological mess. But it's not the worst of my messes. Why do I avoid the phone at all costs? What is wrong with me?

Mirror Neurons and the Growth of Culture.

What I'm talking about is my left hand kills and I have to call my hand surgeon and I haven't. What the ef is my problem? Imna go do it now.

4 comments:

~Debi said...: Love the "big-ass" pics; love the Mirror Neurons bracelet.

I also avoid the phone. I try to get the hubby to take care of stuff that entails phone calls or talking to people in general. I have social anxiety disorder though. lol; 5/11/11, 8:18 PM
fanciful devices said...: ok, but see- I have NO social anxiety whatsoever!
I'm glad you like the big-asses, I'll try to use more.; 5/11/11, 10:41 PM
stregata said...: Big-ass pics are great. And of course the jewelry must be appealing - silly girl! And it is. Why else do we all squeal with delight when you make new stuff? Blindsight is fantastic. As for the bling - well, I don't know what it is with that, but all the girls seem to love it in one way or another...; 5/11/11, 11:19 PM
Penelope said...: I avoid the phone too, I hate it. I don't know why, I never used to. Sometimes I even hate emailing people.

And I feel the same way about prices- I have to put mine up in the next few days, I'm trying to assign a whole afternoon to it so I can use that excuse to put it off longer. I've got the same thing as you- expensive equally socially evil. I can't sit with the idea that some of my necklaces should be well over 100. But the longer I put it off the longer I also detain being able to make a living from this. It's either higher prices or considerably more stock! And I already work myself too hard.; 5/12/11, 11:43 AM