fanciful devices: Before and After

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.

12/30/09

Before and After

I thought this gal might look better w/some stripes. I suppose I was wondering why her sister:

Sold so much more quickly. Or at all. Really, these things are just mysteries most of the time. I also switched the 1st photo to a full shot:

Since I guess it might be more engaging.

I also took a couple more shots of this wacky guy (it's definitely a guy):

Since I didn't have any good views of that damned chain I worked so hard on, and tortured my neighbors so much with. Um, yes, she mentioned it. Nicely. This might be one of those you put crazy tons of work into and just doesn't quite work.... Maybe it's too busy, and I should take out the "charms" on either of the outer sides of the... place where all the junk falls off the spigot knob. Those are the technical terms, try to keep up. My eye is much better in terms of finding that critical bit that's making a piece un-pretty, that's keeping it from what it seems to want to be... Sheesh, what am I babbling on about? Well, anyway, my point is that often I get enamored of all the little bits- like in the above, the outer 2 charm drops include modern, industrial objects, which play against the more traditional bone, crystal, pocket knife elements. But less is more I guess, and that's a hard lesson to learn sometimes. I think sparrow was having the exact same issue and when she had her breakthrough moment it was with this minimalist piece:

I just went to her shop to get this picture and lo and behold, the prettified version of this, that wasn't as successful to our sensibilities, has sold while this one hasn't! Isn't that just the way! Look at this glorious new image and piece she's just listed:

I've also discovered a few comments to my posts! I honestly didn't think anyone looked in here! I kept it more for me and my obsession w/my makings- because god knows I'm not spilling my guts about deep personal issues here! I have no deep personal issues right now, and I'm too obsessed w/making to spend any time reporting on whatever else might be going on. And too obsessed w/making to care about whatever else goes on!
My point was...? Oh! Thanks for the comments, they made my day. Happy happy joy joy.

2 comments:

Jo Archer said...: Little legs definitely funkier with stripes. I love both yours and Penny's work because it's "unpretty" (but fabulous). I try so hard to do that with my own stuff, but somehow that twee, shmaltzy look ends up creeping in there! lol; 12/30/09, 2:28 AM
fanciful devices said...: you know, they say that to be an artist you have to murder your babies. that means, be ruthless w/your own creations. we are women, we have an attraction to pretty. we can fight it in search of something that moves us more. part of the reason you have to fight it is b/c so many of the materials for making stuff is girly. I still indulge in girly eye-candy at times, when looking at holiday decor and stuff, but now, when I'm looking for materials, I steer clear.; 1/4/10, 8:54 AM