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.

4/24/12

So I wanted to show y'all something I forgot to add. This is the original picture. I found it on ebay... should really add a link and credit it, but.... In any case I thought she'd make more of an impact if she were looking at the camera instead of either looking waaaaaay off to the left or perhaps missing her irises and pupils entirely. So I went in with photoshop and the magnifying lens to make that one change and next thing I know I have an entire ethnicity altogether.
Somehow I couldn't stop myself. I knew she'd look better if I flattened the bridge of her nose, thickened her lips... I guess my beauty ideal is some kind of southeast asian. She looks like some kind of southeast asian, doesn't she? The browner of the asians, you know? What are those- Cambodian or something?

The mentor call-out thread is warming up, along with mentoring threads on specific topics somehow, as I was totally confusing about what I meant. I meant so my ladies have specific good friends to convo with privately- since sometimes you wanna say "I don't know what to do about this necklace and plus I ain't been laid in a decade." And you want some immediate and specific advice from a slut who knows.

Speaking of which, Chelsea- it's just glue. Golden matte medium, which is basically glue. I kinda outlined the bird and sanded down all the gunk I'd layered on there before I remembered that I wanted to add something. Like wax and oxidations. Then I sanded it down just a touch which revealed some white paper and then I wetter it and rubbed a drop of watery black acrylic on it with a finger. Not that that's necessary but I can never leave well enough alone.
And sparrow, I luv iu.
And 13! What are you gonna enjoy more, another tin container with no use or the, like, millions of adornments you can make out of it? Pu-leez! Cut that shit up!

Also, my Uruguay trip- not TOURuguay, that's next year- is coming up fast and I'm going to spend the next few days cleaning the studio and house (yeah right, poor hubs is doing it all) and preparing the cousin gifts, etc. So... *sniffle* I'll see you in a couple weeks....

7 comments:

Flotsam Tide said...: Can't see your pictures... hopefully they can be fixed? Aww I am a darker Southeast Asian and as a child I always wished that I was the paler sort because the Asian ideal of beauty represented in Asian media are mostly creamy pale faced women. To have dark skin in Asian culture historically implied that you were a farmer, or worker or that of the peasant class. It was the privileged and wealthier families who didn't have to work outside so they could afford the milky skin. I know this is redundant and is the same for many cultures around the world. I guess it is just really cool to me that you are the first person who has made this remark publicly, (about darker Asians).

I will miss you while you are gone fanci, but hope you have a blast.. shoot pics of the cousin gifts if you can... I love to see. It is a tradition of yours that I look forward too.

And I love Sparrow too...; 4/24/12, 4:25 PM
Flotsam Tide said...: Oh and LOL yes Cambodian, Laotian, Hmong, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino... and countless indigenous hill tribes.; 4/24/12, 4:32 PM
Beatnheart said...: enjoy your time away from all this madness.
drink milk
eat lettuce
have beef; 4/24/12, 6:40 PM
JenHoney said...: I'm gonna miss your bloggins while you're gone. Take lots of pictures.

Also, again- willing mentor/slut-who-knows here for....whatever.; 4/24/12, 7:08 PM
Jackie said...: Have a safe and fun trip! I always miss you when you're not posting. I also love Sparrow. I hope you find tons of treasures during your adventure!; 4/24/12, 10:30 PM
Penelope said...: The browner of the asians...HAHAHA I love you too! I was gunna tell you where those brown asians come from but Kim got their first. She IS an authority! Personally i think that's the best part of Asia as well- I haven't been to any of it but the Vietnamese do the best food, and that area is just generally more wild and rugged, the people are friendlier, it's more laid back. One day I'll go there, when I have some big strapping bloke to constantly hide behind cause I'm a big scaredy cat in foreign lands.; 4/25/12, 12:49 AM
laura said...: Gawd, I love reading your blog.; 4/25/12, 8:11 AM