Posts
15th Oct 2011
trans.mute (tr
ns-my
t
, trnz-)
ns-myt, trnz-)
v.tr.
to change from one form, nature, substance or state to another; transform
15th September 2011
It was exactly 2 years ago that I first experienced the joy of transmutation. I converted gold to brass and called myself an alchemist.
alchemist [ˈælkəmɪst]
n.
a believer that he can change base metal to gold; a seeker of the elixir of life so that the world be rid of all diseases and our aged be restored back unto eternal youth.
You must think me deluded. An alchemist? Not only did I not turn metal into gold but I did quite the reverse.
And there was more destruction, maybe even death.
What Elixir of Life?
Aged unto Youth?
But wait....
But wait....
This year I learnt this....
I learnt how in death there can be life
and see how in decay, there can be beauty.
Perhaps there really is less death and destruction
than death and transmutation, as Edward Teale said
If Nature denies eternity to beings, it follows that their destruction is one of her laws. Now once we observe that destruction is so useful to her that she absolutely cannot dispense with it....from this moment onward the idea of annihilation which we attach to death ceases to be real....what we call the end of the living animal is no longer a true finis, but a simple transformation, a transmutation of matter. According to these irrefutable principles, death is hence no more than a change of form, an imperceptible passage from one existence into another.
.....................Marquis de Sade: Dolmance, in Philosophy in the Bedroom, "Dialogue the Fifth: Yet Another Effort, Frenchmen, If You Would Become Republicans (1795)
I dedicate this to my wonderful friends, especially those who were here in the past year, constantly telling me how they could see the beauty in my decay.
Thank you too the 365 people who follow my blog. My silent companions, some of you. I appreciate you no less.
54 comments:
B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!!!!! You are an Alchemist for sure, dear Sans!!! Who knows what they invented trying to find a piece of gold? I love transmutations of your miniatures! And I adore your case-gardens!!! They are stunning(the music suits your post soooo goood again!:))! I would LOVE to have one like these! No matter the scale! Pure MAGIC!!
Nothing to add,, you said anything.
Big hugs with a running nose ;o)
Rosanna
Hola Sans
Eres mi alquimista preferida, no conviertes el metal en oro, pero conviertes el plastico en verdaderas joyas.
Esas maletas viejas y oxidadas (inertes...), tienen una maravillosa vida interior con esas preciosas plantas que se ven tan reales.
Unos fantasticos trabajos, soy tu fan numero uno de esos oxidados trabajos.
besitos ascension
no se si es alquimia pero eres capaz de inventar tanta belleza!
Love them!! Happy New Year.
-Kim :)
oh what Nice and what creative of you to make something so fun.
I am speechless.
Dear greetings, Alexandra.
in nature, nothing is destroyed, but everything can change! You found the right recipe to give new life to dead things ...
I admire you, Sans, for your ability to turn everything into nice!
kisses
Caterina
Yes there is beauty in decay. I love your little suitcases, your uses for them create beauty. I have watched you create much beauty. I look forward to more :)
Hugs,
Victoria
Ususally when you talk about alchemists, the sorcerers are not far away - and that's what you are to me, a sorceress who shows me the beauty and magic in the familiar things. Your makeover of this simple plastic pieces was spectacular, bringing them to life in my opinion, quite the opposite of death and decay - but adding the plants may be a result of kissing the philosopher's stone... or at least a fantastic, stunning and breathtaking work!
Greetings
Birgit
Oh, WOW, Sans! Your little suitcase Gardens are Just DIVINE!!!! What can I say? I LOVE little green growing baby plants... all lined up and ready to plant in the garden..... *SIGH*
Our Gardens here in the North are DEAD right now.... Every little hint of spring is eagerly sought.... and a LONG way away! And the Alchemy of your suitcases from those plastic boxes is Just UNBELIEVABLE! If you had not shown Both before and after.... I would NOT believe they were not old rusty metal! So Yes, you are the Queen of Rusty Decay.... and the Goddess of Re-birth! And all the little details.... seed packets and trowel.... in your "signature" canvas topped cases.... Just PERFECT!
I Want to come to your Garden!
Thank you for Bringing me to your Garden! :):):)
(And will you believe me if I tell you the word verification I got says "comonin"!)
wait. those are real plants?
*squints*
wuh what!? so nice le!
Cindy, you know me, I am only good at creating plastic gardens :). Ironical right? Since I tolerate plastic at best and hate it at worst. :)
The main plants in the boxes are plastic including the boxes. My plastic gardens in miniature..oops except the one with the statice but statice cannot travel. They get squashed as I found out soon enough so out they go. Most of the plants will have to be plastic and definitely fake. I did use dried moss for the base of the suitcases though. And of course the trowels, little spades are painted metal. Seeds are real in the paper sachets. I do that to thrill the people I am giving them to.
Ewa, there's no way I can deny you anything and you qualify in every way :). I am so proud and flattered that you like my mini garden :).
As I was building this, I was counting on my one hand how many people I think would really like something like this. I dare say only 3. I firmly believe my style is too grungy ..haha.
I definitely think the suitcase will fit into a 1/12 house or garden. You know me and scale right ? As far as I am concerned , there are always giant flowers and puny trees. It all depends on whether we have green fingers or not ..teehee. Easy to make plants to scale.
Expect an email from me soon.
Do get well soon Rosanna! :) Your presence is enough, no additional words needed!
Hola la Ascensión! Estoy tan feliz de que estés aquí. Usted es demasiado temprano! Jajaja. Era importante para mí saber cómo se sentía, porque te he hecho muchas cosas oxidadas:). Tantos que ahora tengo un problema de embalaje porque todo ya está montado! En caso de que le sorprenda y no le mostrará antes de recibir? ¡Por supuesto!
No voy a retrasar más esto y se lo enviaré a usted por la mañana. Voy a encontrar una buena manera de hacer las maletas.
Gracias, mi número uno del ventilador oxidado:). Eres el mejor! Quiero decir que en muchos de muchas maneras.
besos y abrazos!
Que idea mas genial¡¡¡¡ Me encanta la foto de la maleta en el jardin¡¡¡ Es una gran idea. Feliz Año. Carmen
It's nice to find beauty in all things even if we need to create it. In our miniature world nothing ever dies. Our little dollhouses and scenes will be everlasting if we find the way to fight off dust.
I love the way you "rusted" the plastic and thanks for an interesting post.
Hugs
Your little gardens are amazing. You are amazing. I love them as i love all your beauty. Happy 2012.
Hugs Maria
carmen, y dices las cosas más dulces:) Gracias desde el fondo de mi corazón:)
Thank you,Kim @Fairy Cottage :)! HNY!!! :)
Alexandra, I am thrilled to see you here :). You reminded me to visit your lovely blog and I had such a treat. Your painting was so breathtakingly beautiful, I was the one left speechless.
Thank you, Alexandra, for taking the time to share my fun with me :)
Caterina, as always, so generous with the compliments but the feeling is mutual :). Thank you!
V, not as much as how I look forward to your visits :). Thank you, my friend, for always being here :).
Oooooh I like that , Sorceress! Best compliment tonight, Birj :). You know, I have never been called a sorceress :) a witch yes, but not a sorceress :). Sorceress Sans! YES! Spectacular Sorceress Sans! Even Better! :)
Jokes aside, it has been a great year for me , getting to know friends like you. You don't know how often you have made me laugh (sometimes rolling on the floor) with your most unexpected but always tender and sweet and very heartfelt comments, Birj. For you and me, I hope that we can do this for many more years to come.
Expect an email from me , Birj . It may be the first but it won't be the last :)
Haha, comonin Bets! But know you are too far away :) No worries, Mohammed will come to the mountains. Just get the tea and biscuits ready :)
You also got me wondering what "signature" canvas topped cases..teehee, the lightbulb moment just happened :). Very hard to sign on those cases, Bets. I kept forgetting to do it before I put the pocket up so I had to sign with all the plants etc. How in the world do you paint those walls of your dollhouse! I can't even sign on a suitcase!
Bets, thank you for always always being here.Having blogged for 3 years, I notice and of course expect how even the warmest of friendships that you develop in blogland fizzle because people stop blogging or life's craziness just take over or we just become less interested . It is my fervent hope that for you and me, that won't happen for a long time yet, if ever :).
Gracias Carmen:):) Espero que tengas un año nuevo genial!
Dust is good Drora :):). They fit very well with my projects teehee :).
Yes, in our mini world, everything is always transmuting. No death or destruction :)
Thank you Drora for always being here. Please expect an email from me :).
Sweet Maria, thank you for your heartfelt words ! :) I hope too for more of your work :). A better tomorrow for 2012!
Dear Sans! Me too! Many Many Many more years... too many to count! (I'm COUNTING on it!) Hee hee!
Tu destreza de dar vida es perfecta!
Aun que a mí ya me parecían con vida esas maletas, tenían uso, tenían vida!
Besos
Sans! You are an alchemist! Whatever you touch with your hands turns into gold! Just beyond of the imagination!
So, what about needlework?
Gracias rosam por creer siempre en mí:). Acabo de enviarle un emai, me recuerdan a cuando usted puede? :)
Yes, Natalia! *salutes. You always make me feel like I am talking to my teacher :). I will want to at least finish 1 carpet this year. :):) Make you proud of me !
It is amazing what you have done with plastic!!!! It is fantastic and wonderful! how can you achieve that rusted look?...about decay, well I am a microbiologist and decay is a part of life, the returning of organic materials to inorganic form, allowing a new form of life to grow again and again and agai, in a eternal cycle...
Wow! These photos are fantastic, Sans! Are you growing little plants in your suitcases? These look suspiciously real! ;-) You're amazing! :-) Jennifer
That is beautiful!!! Love how you transformed the suitcase and added those plants into it!
Very original work
I like it very much like all your creations
Happy day
Alchemist, sorceress or witch...no matter how you're calles or what you are...you see the beauty in everything and most importantly...you share that beauty with all of us!!!
Great job! just wonderful.
Congratulations. Hugs
The last skill? You are kidding me right? This is surely not your last skill, my dear, you have only just opened pandora's box... you will acquire far more skills in this new year and beyond, I am quite sure of it. :)
You do amaze me how you can transform plastic (yuck) into magic.
Loved the pun about being an alchemist, but, in some ways I do believe you are making gold... it's usually something the opposite? lol ;)
Beautiful pics as usual. I love the greenery coming out of the rusty suitcases. Nice juxtaposition! The contrasts are not lost on me.
Yes, there is transformation, it's like energy, it never leaves, it just changes it's form.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, death returns to the earth to create new life.
Sorry, didn't mean to get all deep! lol, it's your subject matter not mine! :)
I'm sitting here with a smile on my face, enjoying your pics and really hoping you haven't learned it all quite yet...
Teehee, Jen, no, the plants are not real except for the dried moss. The plants are mostly plastic but I painted them so that they don't shine like plastic.
Thank you for your praises :)
Thank you Pei Li :)
Maria I, thank you for your comments. I am following your delightful blog :) and will visit often!
Margriet, you know Joker? The character in Batman with a permanent smile on his face ? I look like that whenever I am reading your comments :). You have to stop or my face will crack! :)
Thank you, maragverdugo :). Loving the house you are building !
Dale, last skill for year 3 ..teehee :). I wrote that I have learnt primarily 3 things in year 3 and this was my last lesson for the year.
It just came to me, transforming a rusty suitcase fit only for the junkyard into something where life or lives can thrive :). This theme of "beauty in decay" has been brooding for a while and I want to develop it further this year. :)
Yes...I know the Joker ;-)
Shall I restrict my comments to 1 every month??? Do you think you can handle that??? LOL
Just MARVELLOUS, Sans!
Love, Susanne
Ok, ok , you know me too well, Margriet :):). I am now officially Joker and I will rather be that than to have you "crack" me up only once a month :)
Thank you Susanne :) So good to see you here!!
Ana!! Ana Anselmo :)
Ok, I can read your comments in my email but for reason, it is not showing up on the blog.
This is what you wrote :
It is amazing what you have done with plastic!!!! It is fantastic and wonderful! how can you achieve that rusted look?...about decay, well I am a microbiologist and decay is a part of life, the returning of organic materials to inorganic form, allowing a new form of life to grow again and again and agai, in a eternal cycle...
brb
Back :).
Ana, the rust effect was achieved with painting. Dab to create texture because a rusty surface is not smooth. I also use a bit fo sand sometimes. Then varnish over to keep the paint on but it can still be peeled off if not careful . So try not to rub against it too much. :)
AND Rebirth is a concept I am totally comfortable with Ana. I am glad a microbiologist can confirm that it is science as well :)
Well, now I feel like a doo doo bird. lol ;)
Oh Sans, these are wonderful!!! I love how you give everything a "much loved" look...lol. This truly is one of my favorite blogs. Your talent and creativity always make me smile. You're such an inspiration.! =)
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