Handmade Soldering Iron 1939

Harvey Thoss made this drawing of a soldering iron, we think, sometime in the 20th century. There’s something deeply satisfying about the simplicity of this image. The ochre ground, the subtle gradations of tone, it's clear Thoss was fascinated by the ordinary, by the tools that shape our world. The soldering iron itself, rendered in muted browns and grays, possesses a kind of quiet dignity. Look at the way the light catches the head of the iron, casting the faintest of shadows. It reminds me of some of the early modernists like Morandi, who found beauty in the mundane objects around him. And it reminds us that art isn’t just about grand gestures, it’s about paying attention, about seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. It’s about the conversation between the maker and the made, a process of discovery and revelation that unfolds with each mark, each stroke, each act of close looking.