A Late Happy I.T.A.M. 2014

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A little bit late in the month, but I hope you have had fun with your typewriters during I.T.A.M. 2014. Robert Messenger, Ton S. and Nat talked about displaying their typewriters earlier this month. I don’t really have the space to keep many out. Plus, it’d be tough keeping them dust-free, even if the high humidity in Singapore doesn’t get to them first. Still, it being I.T.A.M., I took some out to play that aren’t really my regular typewriters.

The Rem P #2 usually sits in the store/ironing room. It was a relatively inexpensive machine (before shipping costs), sold with a broken drawstring (i.e. described as “can’t be tested to be working”) so it didn’t attract much interest. I say relatively cos it still wasn’t one of those $5/10 finds that lucky typospherians occasionally stumble upon 🙂  Other than the drawstring, there were no major issues with it. The keys haven’t yellowed much and the decals are in good shape. It types well, though I find the margin release lever a bit finicky to use while typing. An MR key is much more accessible. A good machine for 1926 no doubt, but hey we’re so spoiled for choice and convenient features, eh? I do like all the locking features of the Remington Portables that some folks find inconvenient.

Happy I.T.A.M. 2014!

Happy I.T.A.M. 2014!

The desk is a little styled in that some of my usual mess has been cleaned up a bit and I’ve edited the noticeboard of all the reminders with which it’s normally cluttered. I do try keep the desktop rather clear most of the time since I regularly switch out laptop, typewriter, and arty-crafty stuff on the same desk space.

This other typewriter isn’t a new purchase, though I haven’t blogged about it before. It arrived rather beat up, with a metal case that was cracked and punctured, so it’s suffered some abuse at one time. It’s not a rare typewriter by any means. It came with both a metal case/cover and a leather briefcase. Does it look familiar? 🙂

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brown, brown, brown, brown

A year of sculpting

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So for 40 weeks last year (minus term breaks) I spent every Sunday afternoon in basic sculpting classes. It was something I had wanted to try for a while, just because. The materials were primarily clay and plaster. We started off sculpting with recycled clay. This is the clay that the school recycles over and over again (hellooo allergies!). Recycled clay is used when the intention is not to fire the sculpted piece but to make a plaster/fibreglass cast from it. This way it doesn’t matter that it is chock-full of impurities which may otherwise cause the clay to explode if it were fired. For other projects, we bought clean clay. The sculpted pieces made from the latter were eventually fired.

Projects:
(1) Human face sculpted referencing classic Greek plaster casts. Final output: Plaster-fibreglass cast
(2) Human head of a live model. Final output: Plaster-fibreglass cast
(3) Human torso. Final output: Fired clay
(4) Abstract carving of plaster block
(5) Other miscellaneous projects of our choice (basically to use up the remaining clay for firing)

sculpture-2013-montage

So if I were to sum up the experience:
(1) Immense satisfaction when you manage to get your sculpture at least 80% close to what you imagined it to be in your head.
(2) Terrible frustration if (1) doesn’t happen, hah!
(3) The hardest thing was picking a subject that inspires you and finding relevant references from which to sculpt. Finding a single reference photo isn’t enough as you would need views from different angles.
(4) By golly, you have to be physically strong to sculpt. The sculpted clay head together with its plaster mold weighed a ton! I couldn’t lift it on my own.
(5) I wasn’t kidding about the allergies. I had outbreaks of hives every Sunday after class. That could be from the recycled clay, the air in the workshop, the fibreglass or all of the above.

At the end of such courses one naturally asks: would I continue to do it after classes end?
It’s a bit difficult to sculpt at home when you live in an apartment. Clay dust and plaster fly pretty far. I have been resorting to sculpting inside a cardboard box to contain the mess, but your movements are a bit hampered in that position. Not having a kiln means sculpting in clay as the finished piece is out. Casting in plaster would also be a problem since it really isn’t advisable to be washing off plaster in an apartment sink – it might just clog up the pipes! So the only option is to carve plaster blocks. I’ve been working on extra plaster blocks that I made in the school’s workshop before classes ended. Once they run out…hmmmm…

Next up I’ll be attempting this:

what lies within?

what lies within?

It’s a whole different ballgame sculpting in wood. I expect lots of blisters!

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It was a dark and stormy night…no…day

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It was a dark and stormy night day. Weather-wise, Day 1 of Nanowrimo was perfect for staying indoors to write.  The rain and wind kept the weather cool and comfortable, and the pitter-pattering of raindrops on the window panes is always pleasant white noise. I had my coffee; the desk was cleared of all but the typewriter; half a ream of paper on the side; music playing in the background. This will be good. Right?

I realised how unprepared I was a few minutes after I sat down in front of the typewriter. A very loose idea of a plot was all I had, with much of it still grey as to how it would develop. And oh how to start? The importance of the opening line does make one hesitate (especially when using a typewriter/pen). Oh what the heck. If you never start, blah, blah blah. So I started typing anyway. It actually went rather well in the beginning. The sentences followed one another fairly easily. Writing on a typewriter checked my habit of editing and re-editing immediately after writing. Oh, I still did some editing – the pages are littered with correction tape/ crossed out text / handwritten corrections – but far, far less than if I wrote on a computer. I did have to consciously remind myself to ignore the imperfect phrasing and just move ahead.

A mere seven hundred words later, it was time to break for lunch. My idea of the perfect lunch for Nanowrimo: Avocado on toast with a cup of coffee. Pure deliciousness.

Then after lunch I went online “just to check email”. Of course it never stops there. Read the news; opened Feedly and read a few blogs. Oh interesting link, *click*, etc., etc.  Whatsapp beeps on the phone – a long series of text exchanges…

Distracted. Completely distracted.

A few hours later, I went back and stared at the page, read and re-read the last few sentences. And stared a while more. Finally made myself start typing again. But this time, something was missing from the flow. I wrote a few more paragraphs but the writing was sluggish even to me. Come on, make something happen already! But it was not to be.  The rest of the day I did chores around the flat instead.

So ended Day 1 of Nanowrimo. Daily target unmet, sigh. I’ll do better and catch up. (I hope).

nano-d1

Olympia Splendid 66

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Olympia-Splendid-66

Olympia Splendid 66 – S/N 5-1467182 – 196?


This Olympia Splendid 66 (10-pitch pica) arrived the day after my birthday, but that wasn’t planned. Neither was its purchase actually. Like I need another typewriter, right? It came reasonably well-packed; bubble-wrapped then double-wrapped (not boxed) in cardboard with wads of newspaper in between. The seller chose to further wrap it in a black garbage bag, to water-proof it I guess. The red-and-white “FRAGILE” tape kept it from being mistaken for actual trash. The cardboard used was a little thin, which was worrying before I opened it up to see the second layer. The typewriter works fine (though a good cleaning is in order). However, there are noticeable scratches on the ribbon cover which did not appear in the photos posted by the seller. Hmmm… still trying to figure out if the photos were photoshopped for the sale. I’ve been trying to polish the scratches to make them less noticeable, but they now appear as black smudges instead. Oops… I’ll try something else tomorrow maybe.

Disguised as garbage?

Disguised as garbage?

Back to the typing action. It is actually very similar in typing feel to my Olympia SF. The difference is small; maybe it types a little tighter on the Splendid. I was expecting the difference to be more discernible, from reading posts in the typosphere. But then I only have limited experiences with typewriters as compared to many others in the typosphere, so the nuances may be lost on me 🙂

The typed text of the Splendid appears to be sharper than that of the SF. The latter looks somewhat pixelated, even with a fresh ribbon. Is that a factor of the ribbon though, or has anyone else noticed the same thing? The only way to know for sure is to swap the ribbons between the two machines, which I’ll probably do later. The grainy/blurry type was with a fresh Pelikan nylon ribbon, the other came with the typewriter. (Btw, why are the zipper pulls on Olympia bags always broken?)

I’ve been toying with the idea of participating in the Nanowrimo this year. Well, not just this year, but I doubt I’ll have the discipline (and time) to successfully complete it. It doesn’t help that I am a notorious editor/re-writer. I scrub and rephrase and erase paragraphs that have just been written. A typewriter would coerce encourage progress, but I may end up killing trees instead. Regardless of whether I do or I don’t, it is quite fun to contemplate which machine I would use for Nano. Portables actually appear to be easier for me to type on, with my small hands and short fingers. It’s now a toss-up between this Splendid and the Adler Tippa (orange) since they have the most readable typeface. The script and non-standard typefaces just don’t work for extended typing/reading.

And now, with a totally inelegant switch of topic: Have you seen these? Fun and amazingly detailed. Click on the pics to link back to the sources.

Royal QDL

underwood

My workspace

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I’m always interested in seeing other people’s spaces, where they’d work, think, and play. So I thought I’d show my setup at home – a study for books, drawing/painting, sculpting, sewing, etc. It’s missing a stereo (which is in the living room), but I use my laptop to play music when I work. It is not quite “100% ideal” as a workspace, but I know I am lucky to have it as it is. It would be nice to have a bigger room with more storage space and where there’d be a monster of a worktable that could sit right in the middle of the room.

roomlayout700

Here’s a pic of the painting corner. The table and chair are both vintage. The latter isn’t that comfortable for reading, but it works for painting since one can’t slouch when doing that.

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This is what a painting rag should look like, hah! I’ve had it for years and ain’t getting rid of it anytime soon. Although… there’s so much oil paint and solvents on it, it may just spontaneously combust one day.

paintingrag700

A quick note

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So far, 2013 has been a little unkind on the ol’ system – three weeks of the flu with its hacking coughs, fatigue and congestion that impeded restful sleep. Trying to function in my semi-medicated haziness meant getting back to pre-holiday productivity and activity has been slow. Anyway that’s my excuse for inertia on the blogging front. I really do have stuff to blog about, but somehow one gets stuck mid-way. Maybe it’ll have to be picture posts until I can find the words again. Thanks for all the encouragement in response to my last post. : )