Making of an Urushi Pen

Making of an Urushi Pen

Late last year after a crazy year (because of it that will not be named) I was feeling a bit adventurous and branched out, wanted to try my hand at something I've watched others do so well, and make something totally different, pens!! 💪

So here we have one of the three exquisite writing instruments ill be introducing... Made from weighty solid brass, it's perfectly balanced in the hand making it a real pleasure to use, I only wish I'd made one for myself. The gel roller ball effortlessly glides across the paper.

Pens have power and are symbols of creativity and freedom. But even if you don't want to change the world that's no reason to have a bog standard pen. Your not average, why settle for average? That's what i tell myself anyway. If this last year has thought me anything its that shit can hit the fan at any moment, so don't wait to invest in yourself, and in quality, something my brother always says, If you invest in the tools of your trade and buy something special or unique, you'll use it more. You'll want to sit down in front of that new computer or write with that extra special pen, and if you want to do it, you'll do it more, and better. Investing in ourselves is the most important thing we can do!

The Nanako-Nuri or Tambo technique is labour intensive, the process of creating each pen spans months. When the first layer of coloured lacquer was applied on this solid brass pen, rice and metal coils were scattered across the surface, to make forms in the still wet Urushi lacquer. These 'little things' are removed once the lacquer has cured. Successive layers of differently coloured lacquer are built up and eventually sanded through 9 levels of emery paper to reveal the characteristic pattern.

There are over 50 steps involved in creating pens like this, even if I could repeat each step perfectly the results would never be the same, that means that each piece is completely and totally unique, one of a kind. More on this long process in the next blog.

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