fanciful devices: Two new

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.

4/12/16

Two new

Update time!

Y'all, I sold off all my destash lots yay! I feel light as a bird. Even though I look at my studio and it's still full of projects to work on.

Anywho, I'm going to get my taxes done today, yay. So for that I had to print out some paperwork wherein I had to confront the amount of actual dollars I'd actually made in 2015. OMG, I need therapy.

So I realize I have to charge more... but then I sell less so it's a vicious cycle... That all of us who make are stuck in together... And we've discussed this to death before ... And it's not like I need money, I'm very lucky for the support of my husband and parents on that end.... It's just that money is one measure of your success as an artist, if you're an actively selling artist... I feel like it's a score, really. Which is especially dumb of me considering I was creatively inactive for MONTHS in 2015 and I'm perfectly aware of that and OK with it... Also we all know that good art isn't necessarily sellable, nor appealing to a huge number of people... Plus lot's of folks don't have the $$ to waste on luxury items, god knows... So what's wrong with me? It's like my subconscious was looking for something to get down over, really.

And why does blathering it all out to you guys seem to help so much? It's like the more times I tell people about something the more I'm able to process it and get over it.

If I Were Freed from All Cares.

Blah, blah, blah, look at this necklace.

Gobi Desert Agate, JBDRusticOrganic art tile, big mop toggle, glowing amber colors.

This update's two pieces are similar in that they have a big Gobi desert agate drop plus a JBDRusticOrganic tile as the focal and they're named If I Were Freed from Caring and If I Were Freed from All Cares, so I'm very pleased with all that. However, as I explain in the listing descriptions, the meaning behind each of the names is quite different.

If I Were Freed from Caring.
Dude uses his own totally unique artwork as transfers for these tiles. Gorgeous.

Anyways, I tried not to clutter it up with too much extra.

That soldered bar chain has tiny lamp work babies by 4Ophelia, isn't it awesome?

Mom and I were remembering a time when I was little and told her not to worry I could just live in a trailer. That's not what worried her, she reminded me, it was when I added that a can of generic dog food was only 40 cents at the market, so I could just live on that. Way to reassure her, younger self!

And now, primates.

cheezburger animals cute home video monkey

3 comments:

Lorelei Eurto said...: It is always such a pleasure to stop into your blog.... Always feasts for the eyes, and thoughtful phrases and sentences that always really make me think.

Tax time is a total bummer. Especially this year. Each year, I make a little more, and have to pay a little more, and although my profit numbers are fairly low (when you think about someone with a full time salary elsewhere) it's almost too high because I am dishing out a boatload to state and federal.

How does a handmade artist balance these roller coaster times. My recent job
search was eye opening to say the least. All retail and nothing feasible for a gal with a college
education.; 4/13/16, 9:04 AM
Lorelei Eurto said...: hmmm. nothing say about that eh?
okay then.; 4/27/16, 9:56 AM
fanciful devices said...: Oh sorry! I don't usually answer people straight in the comments cuz I don't think people come back to check. I loved getting this note and I always love seeing your stuff on Instagram.
I didn't know you had a recent job search- my husband is still working basically in retail 10 years after graduating college. What can you do with a humanities degree?; 4/27/16, 5:38 PM