fanciful devices: I love me some questions.

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.

12/6/11

I love me some questions.

But first, some newbies.

The cords are too long. But it's cool- I can shorten them per customer.

stregata- Banging my hand?!?! OH YEAH! On your blog. Now, WTF is this faux shibuchi technique?!?!!?!?! I searched high and low and all google would give me is a million different links to your blog!!!! AAArrrgghhh! And you refer to it like something you've been chatting about but as far back as I can go you never explained! Oh the frustration!!!

amth13 You basically spend all day out of it, hu?

Gardanne OK, but I'll expect royalties. To be paid in beads.

Sarah Smith- I have a very exclusive supplier of steel wire. You may not have heard of it- Ace Hardware?

accusedredemption- Yes of course it is sealed. I mean, that's easy! The same adhesive you put it on with. In this case that glaze ... what's it called... it's everywhere... you're probably sitting on a bottle right now. Whatever- any adhesive works, even Elmer's Glue. Or slap some sticky boogers on it and go with it!

Oh Corvid, you do go on!

OMG- Another thing I'd forgotten about (picking up last post's thread of how I'd forgotten about bead caps) is spacers!! I've been having so much fun rediscovering the world of basic supplies. Next you'll hear me wax poetic on the wonders of jump rings. "You gotta try 'em. They really hold things together!"

The real news is that yesterday... I exercised! For the first time in maybe... well, over a decade. Yeah. And I showered. Momentous day all around.

Crapballs- remember how I was going on about what a hassle reserves and stuff are? Well, on that topic, this piece is available again.
<--

Oh but wait! I got some ear goodies.
I'll list later. I need to spend some time with my poor hubs who has the day off.

8 comments:

La Fileuse said...: The longer it is, the better it is. Beautiful necklaces ! Bravo !; 12/6/11, 5:08 PM
Flotsam Tide said...: Ahh I had the sixth sense that a new blog post was up! I guess in the jewelry world I do go on, I like to think of myself as a rotund Winston Churchill type pundit. The bracelet with the baby's head is deliciously creepy, and I love the return of micro mosaics in your work. Very cool how you incorporated the old textile block, that would be awesome if someone actually printed off it, or made a general impression of your necklace with ink and texture. Oh there I go again.. on and on.
xoxox!; 12/6/11, 5:45 PM
accusedredemption said...: hahahah I love your answer! I will take note in putting bodily fluids to seal things...kind of like in India, they mix cow patties with mud and use it as sealant for their mud thatched homes. It keeps termites and other bugs away and keeps the house cool...; 12/6/11, 8:22 PM
stregata said...: But didn't you find any links to shibuichi???? Girl!
I'll send you an email. Love those game piece earrings!; 12/7/11, 12:09 AM
Janet said...: Wow Fanci, delicious, fabulous new jewels that sell so fast it leaves burnt rubber on your shopping cart page.; 12/7/11, 12:35 PM
Numinosity said...: That exclusive supplier of wire, Ace! That's so funny because I was having a discussion with a facebook friend in Mexico and I had been showing off some fanci inspired bangles. She was asking what kind of wire I was using and I said dark annealed from Ace hardware and we went into a Spanish lesson about how to ask for temperado obsuro which happened to be witten on my package after I had looked it up on my translator. We must have been chanelling you. Then she messaged me about your post today .
Anyhow I have some bangles to show off in acouple of days when I get back to my other computer. Thanks for being an inspiration as always.; 12/7/11, 8:55 PM
steufel said...: Drooling here - over every single piece. But I do that everytime you post new work.; 12/8/11, 5:30 AM
Petra Carpreau said...: I felt a new post scratching away at my consciousness too!
Oh now, what a scrumptious Happy Fallout-fest that choker is, with a good old bit of baby's head to finish it off! Those hearty necklaces are a right old bit of yum too.
You exercised??!! Steady on, girl - what exactly did you do?? And you washed? What's going on? Were you having an off day??; 12/8/11, 10:04 AM