fanciful devices: Sneak Peek

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.

11/13/15

Sneak Peek

Well, I have things to show but it's been dark and stormy these last couple days so the photo situation isn't fantastic for those of us who like to start our workdays at 3pm.

So since I have to go out of town to be an aunt this weekend, I thought I'd leave you with little snippets, sneak peeks, as they say, if I may, as it were (...wow all those phrases mean the same thing and sound similar).

You know, it's very strange for me to see all these details crammed together like this.

It shows me that in its own grungy way, my stuff is quite colorful, full of little faces and characters.

Even the non-anthropomorphic items seem to me to be little characters and have faces of a sort.

And as much as I'd like to be serious and masculine, there's all kinds of cute girly details.

But it's also very fun, so screw serious. I'm like the least serious person I know.

Also check out this craft I'm going to do with my niece and her two sleepover guests:

(Except where she says to put the caps on, if you do that, the bottles will explode. Ahem.)

5 comments:

Juliette said...: I love your sneak peeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So lovely and colorful. And finally, someone like me who starts work in the afternoon :D Why on earth did I think I was abnormal? I knew I wasn't the only one.

Okay - what is in the bottles - are they like homemade snowglobes? Love them!!

xoxo; 11/13/15, 1:57 PM
TheEuropeanMarina said...: Duality and synthesis, the masculine looks funky next to the girly details you incorporated in all the beauties! Great artwork again Fanciful!; 11/15/15, 8:55 AM
Louise said...: I want everything.; 11/16/15, 12:55 AM
Anonymous said...: Ahem...another 'late starter' here....that's why my show&tell photos are never best quality. ....
Here's to looong mornings!; 11/17/15, 8:01 PM
Unknown said...: You are so CREATIVE...I really like your BLOG.
Keep up the fantastic work!; 11/22/15, 6:31 AM