fanciful devices: Ear-stravaganza.

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.

6/20/13

Ear-stravaganza.

It's an ear-athon. Ear-mageddon. Ear-gasborg. Ear-pocalypse. Ear-topia.

The Ladies at their Leisure.

OK, I'll stop. Here's some greybird with vintage bingo balls I put eye-screws into.

The Saintly Ones.

The earwire on these is full-hard sterling. Cuz. It's 22 gauge though, so I dunno. The hoops are 4ophelia (check out her awesome new handmade resin cabs) and the medals are teapots. The blue glass is antique African from patroness. Stillpointworks has these amazing new polymer headpins. I bought a couple at redonk ontro price and then she just GAVE me a couple more. So of course her shop is quite out.

Of Shimmering Rains.

See, here's another set. These also have some really iridescent Roman glass and a bit o' asymmetry.

Stillwater.

Here's this amazing transparent 'set' she just up and sent. Surrounded by all kinds of gem goodness. It's a gem-stravaganza! Ugh, someone shut me up.

The Garden Gnomon.

Greybird, jasper and sterling wires.

The Fortune Teller.

These are a re-make because I had the bits.

The Silent Land.

These! cut strips of modern tintypes with a bit of heat embossing and gold leaf insides surround antique buddhist amulets on sterling wonky wire. So leetle and cute.

Witch speaking of-
What real friendship looks like (via)

Lately the tumblrz are all about the 2 second videos.

Just thought you should know. Keeping you current.

Also something that makes me laugh each time I re-read it. It's Noir fiction in tweet-sized bites by this lovely illustrator.

She had a pair of legs that wouldn’t quit, no matter how politely you asked #noirfiction

She had a nice set of legs, and then a second, less-nice set she’d found in her foyer. That’s why she came to me. #noirfiction

She was a nutty broad, with hair that was bonkers, and legs that just didn’t make any sense at all #noirfiction

It was a dark and stormy…. DAY #noirfictiontwists

Her legs only went halfway up and then there was just an inescapable shrieking void, like all women #noirfictiontwists #noirbydavesim

She had legs that went all the way up, and so did the rest of her. “Get back down here,” I said. She looked at me and said “No” #noirfiction

She had a torso and then two weird lower limbs sticking out of the bottom of it. What were those things #noirfiction

She had a body like a poem, and a face like a limerick #noirfiction

Her legs were like a metaphor, and the imagery they brought to mind was extremely evocative #noirfiction

She was a real classy broad: top hat, monocle, tuxedo, twirled mustache… oh wait #noirfiction

She had a face like this :) and a pair of legs to match < #noirfiction

She had a nice face. It was pretty. She was in my office. I was a detective! It was my first day of being a detective. #noirfiction

She had a pair of legs that ended in rollerskates and the kind of body that could stay upright #noirfiction

She had a face like a zen koan: thought-provoking but impossible to figure out #noirfiction

She was the kind of dame where you couldn’t wait for her to leave so you could write about her on your blog #noirfiction

I never cared for conversation, so I let my gun do the talking. Problem was, he was shy too #noirfiction

It’s a dirty job in a dirty city, but I’m not the cleanest guy so that’s fine by me. The name’s Paul Blart… Mall Cop. #noirfiction #blart

He had a face like a stack of pancakes and whenever he talked he sprayed butter and syrup everywhere #noirfiction

9 comments:

Lela said...: What an ear-ily post!; 6/21/13, 10:21 AM
Lela said...: Uh (An "ear-ily" post?) That sounds stupid and completely outside the bounds of proper English! Then again, who ever said I was proper? ahhahahaaa.

Ok, apparently what I meant to say was, "What an ear-ie post!"

Geez. NM.; 6/21/13, 1:52 PM
Lela said...: Wait! I know what did it!!

It was the Summer Solstice!

When the earth tilts like that I get all ear-ily tilted. Yup.; 6/21/13, 1:56 PM
neshuma said...: Eye pins in BINGO BALLS??? Did Bingo get to vote on this particular mission of assemblage???; 6/21/13, 1:59 PM
Anonymous said...: I don't think that cat in the video was bonding I think she was smacking his face up! Those are just the best ever earrings, I love every pair and happy solstice.x; 6/22/13, 3:27 AM
PipnMolly said...: Love Claire's headpins and how you used them. I nabbed a handful myself.; 6/22/13, 8:13 AM
Unknown said...: OOOOoooooo - my ears ache for attention. They are ear-lish-us in their design.; 6/22/13, 11:19 AM
alteredarcheology said...: She made a ton of earrings this week, I hope the floor doesn't collapse.#fauxfiction; 6/23/13, 11:00 AM
Anvil Artifacts said...: be still my heart when I see your Stillwater earrings. yum; 6/24/13, 3:24 PM