A renewed love affair
I thought my love affair with pens was contained to the pens themselves … but I was wrong … my love has now firmly extended to the inks that go in the pens!
Silly me, I know colour changes things, and each colour expresses a different emotion/feeling … but up until fairly recently, I never really applied that practical idea to the ink in my fountain pen.
Well, that has all changed. I have discovered new colours that allow me to express my written words more fully.
My favourite right in this moment is: Ancient Copper from Diamine. It is a beautiful deep orange. Much darker when you see it in just words, but the sample shows how rich it is.
I discovered this particular ink while browsing at one of my very favourite online shops, wonderpens.ca, where they have sample swatches of each of the inks they sell. Best of all, they have what they call “sample” size of 2ml vials of ink that you can test out before committing to a larger bottle. These are very affordable ($1.75-$2.25 each) and allow you to try a lot of different colours to get just the right one, or two or three …
Gouletpens.com in the U.S. also has swatches of inks on their site and they sell “tester” sizes too! You will enjoy extensive tutorials about inks and pens here.
Friendly Warning: both of these sites are rabbit holes and you may end up there for several hours. Totally worth it if you like fine writing instruments and in-depth information!
The samples here are screenshots from the Gouletpen.com site, which show them more clearly than I can show them myself.
Fountain pens are on the comeback, for sure, and I couldn’t be happier!
New to compendiumshop.ca
In keeping with my desire to “use what’s in the studio” … I have taken some mandala plaques which have been stored for awhile, and in some cases I’ve reworked them, in others, I did my signature “apply black paint” and start all over again. As always, it has been such a relaxing and joyful place to be, working on these pieces. I hope they find the perfect homes for all the best reasons!
Appreciation
If you are anything like me, when you find something that has inspired or enlightened you, like a book or article, you love it and maybe share it with others, but rarely do you take the next step and write the author. My take on this is, we think the author already knows what a great piece it is, and that it is influential. Or that they won’t ever read your email.
We would be wrong, for the most part. People who write books and articles thrive on hearing how their work helps/influences/informs the world.
So, taking that into consideration, I wrote a quick email to Austin Kleon, author of Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad, Workman Publishing, 2019, which I mentioned in my last blog post. He replied with thanks.
I did it because Austin, like so many other writers and creatives out there, give SO MUCH to the world … and recognition for that is really important.
Now I want to make a list of other people who have inspired, enlightened and helped me, and write them a thank you too!
Coming Soon to compendiumshop.ca
I thought the newest pieces for the compendiumshop would be ready this week … but they aren’t quite, so I will post the beginning of a “new” line of pieces next week. They are what I call “vestiges”, which means: “a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something that is no longer present or in existence”. This definition comes from my handy-dandy Random House College Dictionary, a gift from my mother in 1975.
Stay tuned!
Wishing you a week filled with fantastic creative energies!
~sarah
I’ll always stay tuned for the wonders that come out of your studio!
At least you are letting some of the things go to other people!!
Hello Sarah, you enjoy your pen ink colors like I enjoy the myriad colors of my gourd painting inks, they are so gorgeous, even if I feel as if I rarely visit them currently.
As always I enjoy reading what you write, it’s very informative and somewhat in a part of the world that I rarely visit, that of the world of graphic design.
You are also a marvelous wordsmith whose words really resonate with me.
Hugs always,
Di Holmes
Thank you Di, for being a part of this wild and somewhat unpredictable journey of mine …. you are a good companion indeed!!!
Wonderful discovery to make, Sarah! And what a beautiful blog thus enhanced, too.
I sense my pen-and-ink mentor, beloved late friend Wayson Choy, reading along with me here. I inherited several bottles of his inks, and some pens too. He was also a devoté and master of using elegant art stamps, and taught me to enjoy dabbling with those as well.
Half a dozen of the letters I wrote in February with those goodies are STILL on my desk, all set to be mailed. once I dare to get out and about again — they date “from the Let’s Write Letters By Hand” project you initiated.
Not sure I will thank you for the wonderpens link quite yet — depends on my ‘impulse resistance at this dangerous time of year: an August stationery/office binge a yummy ritual of yore. Best set mesel’f a budget before visiting the online shop …
Thanks for all the rest, with hugs on!
Thanks Kitty … yes, the art of the hand is a wonderful thing, and anything that makes it even more of an experience, is simply lovely. One thing I rather like about the inks part is, wonderpens.ca and gouletpens.com both sell the tester/sampler sizes that are so darned affordable (about $2.00 or so). I think one little vial is going to last me quite some time. I know what you mean about setting a budget, I do that whenever I visit because I certainly do not want to taint my experience with any sense of regret! Happy writing!!
As usual, things that you have mentioned have piqued my interest. I too love pens but am now rather intrigued about the different colours of ink that can be used. Hmmm, I may just be checking that out. Thank you once more for your inspiring words. Reading your blog is like sitting down with you for a cuppa. Something I would dearly love!
Perhaps we will get to writing letters to one another … we’ve never done that!! Thank you for sharing my simple joys in life!