Do you remember nail pictures?
They were craft sets that comprised of a wooden board, a bunch of nails and loads of wire or thread. I think you had to supply the hammer and most certainly the sticking plasters!
They were a Christmas staple in the Sixties and a popular gift for both kids and grown-ups. They were second only to painting by numbers for regimented handiwork i.e. tedium.
To create a picture you followed a nailing pattern, tacking in the nails where shown and then following the instructions for winding the wire or thread round them.
In this way you created an instant nail and thread masterpiece for the living room wall or bedroom shelf.
Common designs I recall were stars and boats. The star looked like a spirograph pattern for the wall.
Ultimately they became very artistic dust traps and are very much of their time although my Missus informs me that they are still available in all good craft shops! Blimey.
Did you do mail pictures readers?
Never did any of those but I remember seeing them around.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lamp in my childhood bedroom at my parents' house that is kind of along those lines... plastic vanes with translucent wire strung between them to make a sort of pattern.
That picture at your folks' place sounds great! Your childhood bedroom eh. What other treasures have you got in there?
DeleteHmm lamp with wire... sounds liek maybe you have one of those "oil" lamps from the 60's. The ones that dripped down the wires to make kind of a living/moving art while providing light. Most had some sort of statue in the middle.
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That's incredible that Lance! Not very attractive either and iy must have been a fire hazard! I have never seen one before!
DeleteI'd forgotten all about them, Woodsy. But now that you've mentioned them, I do remember them. My memories are more from 1980s carboots, where I'd see them alongside Tretchikoff's and old lava lamps, and other beautiful relics which where no longer in fashion.
ReplyDeleteTretchikoffs were great to find at boot sales Tone. Found Tina, which now hangs in my daughters house. Never found the green lady though. An iconic painter. As for Lava lamps they were just the best. Wish I still had one! I had to laugh when I saw one called Mathmos, which is the primordial ooze in the flick Barbarella!
DeleteI agree Woodsy, Tretchikoffs were always a nice find. Once considered carboot kitsch, Tretchikoff and Lynch prints are far from cheap to buy these days. Tina was a JH Lynch print. Very similar in subject matter and style to Tretchikoff. Think they were two of the first mass produced artists of the 20th Century. Just read an interesting link about Lynch. Thought you might like it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jhlynch.org/
Fab site that Tone. Lynch was am iconic artist. The portraits have a sort of gothic romance about them like the gothic paperbacks I used to collect by Marylin Ross. Another artist I recall being in the family home back then was Vernon Ward. It was a picture of ducks landing in reeds at dusk. My favourite pictures in the old home were by an artist called Soulet, my fave being the boy with the hammer. I've actually bought and sold a lot of kitsch over the years including a Shabner picture which looked just like Sophia Loren.
DeleteWow Woodsy... Vernon Ward prints are a blast from the past. The name didn't ring a bell at first, so I googled his work. Then I immediately recognized two deer prints we had at home when I was a little lad. I'd totally forgotten all about them with the passing of time. Brilliant to have that faded memory switched on again. Kitsch is King, Woodsy :)
DeleteMy bro had a framed David Shepherd elephant print hung in his room too. That was a lovely picture. And big!
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