BLOGAHOMA

So what’s my passion? Now it is staplers. It’s everything I can find out about them. The who, when, where and how. A litany of names, Arrow, Ace, Bates, Bostitch, Neva-Clog, EM, Hotchkiss and all. I know it will take a while but eventually I will become a real “know it all” about these feisty little machines! And then what? Then I don’t know. I learned a whole lot about American arts and crafts tiles, the who, what, why, how, when and where and now I am selling few of them moving to new owners so they can learn. Oh I am keeping many of them but some are going. And then the offshoots, lateral thinking will begin. Obviously 3D work/ play. I am starting to formulate a way to display the staplers and how fun it might be to build a velvet lined box. Right now I am thinking the Neva-Clog, because it cost me a pretty penny and has great curb appeal.

Pictured here is the Hotchkiss Nº 1 from 1924. Their earlier models had more engraving but I like the no nonsense look of this one. And yes at $7, postage and a lot of elbow grease it is quite presentable.

First you have to love the name. I takes confidence to call your device the Neva-Clog but of course being that it was made in 1936 there was no fear of being slammed in a blog or on Epinions. But here it is 2009, this deco darling is now 73 years old and is still hanging in there. It’s particular on what staples you feed it. It has smaller than standard staple which means that it might not ever clog since it will run out of staples before I could ever lodge a complaint. And since the company is no longer in business it is moot point.

Creating art of the Neva-Clog is like reinventing the staple however I started on my 3D rendering before I actually owned this machine. A few details I was not aware of was its head came to a point (I’ll call it the button but I don’t know the real terminology), it appears to have nickelplating rather than chrome and what I thought were photography distortions in the angle of the base were not distortions, the base is actually slightly askew. I followed up with few tweeks to my art after buying the Neva-Clog.

I am somewhere in midst of series of anatomy of the stapler. More to come.

I had tried to construct a 3D version of a stapler from pictures but I had too many starts and stops to even count. It wasn’t until I owned a vintage one that I could actually create all the componants. I am after all an artist/ illustrator and references is essential. And the real deal makes it possible. The EM 230 was made in France in the 1950′s. I love the sleek profile the dark forest green. It took me a few days and nights. There was very little “that will do”. And then there was the sounds. I know I could go to soundsnap and find what I was looking for, the rustle of the paper, the distinctive click of the staple being applied. Nice!

So EM is my favorite of any stapler I have owned. I have owned some nice ones but they usually move on to ebay and get sold. This one, however, is going to stick around.

L’hourra pour pour les agrafeuses de tous les jours !

A few posts ago I took out a bunch of vintage matchbooks and brought them to “show and tell” on my blog. I didn’t want to set the world unfire I just wanted to spark some imagination. This time it playing cards. I loved the swapping card thing when I was kid I did own anything as frivolous as playing cards, not when you needed milk money, so I had to be content to look on as other girls gathered their favorites like kittens or horses or flowers. I ran across a few I had bought somewhere on a whim, just a handful really but I’d thought I’d share with my small audience. I like the Pueblo Indian designs and wonder if they may have been sold at Harvey Restaurants in the New Mexico.

The clock I chose to render in 3D is the Nelson Wall Clock designed by
George Nelson in 1948. George Nelson was a signature mid century designer. And this clock clock which produced in wood and metal both painted and unpainted symbolizes that post WWII era (the atomic age).

A full Nelson is a wrestling hold executed from the backside and so the the metaphor. Holding back time, grappling with time, wrestling with time. Interesting to note that it is not a “finishing” action and you cannot pin you opponent “time” down.

Not that either of these came to mind when executing this 3D. I liked the clock and thought “easy” to recreate in 3D.

So what’s next in my 3D brain buffer? Perhaps something by Heywood Wakefield. Mid-centure Moderne so much easier than Victorian.

Created in Cheetah 3D on a 13″ MacBook.