Jeff Peachey

January 5, 2010January 28, 2013

A Portfolio Box

Dwight Primano, a NYC based photographer and I designed this presentation box for a sequence of photographs titled “ken”. Since the images had a specific sequence, and alternated horizontal and vertical format, we decided on a box with a lift off lid and small squares in each of the corners to prevent the images from shifting. There are cut out areas for finger access on the top and sides. The image size is slightly smaller than the width of the paper, so all the images remain hidden until the top one is lifted off. The box is roughly 14 inches in height, square and covered with canapetta book cloth. A new tool, the 25 degree flexible mini knife proved very useful for paring down a ridge between the complex cut outs on the corners and bottom lining cloth.

It’s always fun to collaborate on a project that is somewhat unusual like this one. Dwight also teaches conservation documentation for The Institute for Fine Arts, as well as a great weekend workshop version covering some of the basics, which I took a couple of years ago. The top image looks like a woodcut, but it is a photograph of a kite lying on the grass. There are a few copies of this series for sale, contact him for details.

December 21, 2009January 28, 2013

Short Pencils

This pencil box, filled with well worn pencils, strikes me as extremely poignant. Someone treasured, or at least saved these used up pencils and eventually they were resold to in a junk shop. It is increasingly rare to even see well worn objects– things just break or get discarded because they are obsolete or out of fashion. No one today (except Jim Croft!) would ever consider using a pencil that is so short, awkwardly grasping it at the end of two fingers and a thumb, then slowly writing. I imagine when the ferrule prevented the pencils from entering any further into the pencil sharpener, someone removed it and tried to sharpen them from the other end. Using the ferrule to make the double ended pencil seems an absurd amount of work for very little benefit. But since many of the pencils appear not to have been used after being sharpened, were these made as an exercise to pass the time? Could the person who made this not be able to afford a new pencil, or just being creative? Even the pencil box, well constructed with finger joints and a sliding lid, is a rarity these days. The remains of these pencils are possibly more interesting than the words or numbers that they once wrote– pointing to the value and importance of tools.

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For those old enough remember card catalogs and the little pencils (aka. golf pencils) scattered around them, this informative documentary explores where they come from, how they were made and how they were used. Documentaries like this one give us a fascinating glimpse into how earlier cultures lived, worked, and constructed the objects of daily life.

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The new Zebra mechanical pencils, available from Staples and Amazon, costing 39 cents each are close to ideal. They are light, cheap and cleverly designed. The lead that comes with the pencil is fairly poor quality, but is easily replaced. Pressing the eraser advances the lead. But their best feature is their perfect overall length– most pencils are too long, at least for my hand, and have been that way for the past 100 years or more.

December 16, 2009January 28, 2013

Paring In Action

I finally made a (very) short video showing edge paring using an English style A2 Cryo knife. Hopefully, early next year, in the new tool catalog, there will be videos of all the tools in action. In the meantime, descriptions and images of tools are in the “TOOL CATALOG” in the right hand column.

Video seems a promising technology for the preservation of craft based knowledge: it can clearly demonstrate and record hand skill techniques. It can also be potentially misleading in terms of how easily a tool is used, and “special effects” are available on any computer. But videos are popular, great for marketing, persuasive and hot right now.

Sit back, eat a piece of popcorn and enjoy the next 39 seconds.

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A PEACHEY KNIFE IN ACTION

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