My turn at the 12 questions

The #12penpersonquestions has been gathering steam since originally published back in August by Lisa at Olive Octopus. I thought I would have a go.

If you consider the different ways you can engage with pens and stationery—as a user, a collector, a hobbyist, a creator, a maker, a vendor—which roles fit best and what percentage of 100% would you assign to each? Are you happy with the balance?

I got into this whole pen world as a user. Pens are what I use at work, when I’m journalling, when I’m writing lists. If I didn’t use, I wouldn’t collect. To me there is zero point in a pen that hasn’t been inked. So I would still call myself at least 50% user.

Collector is a term I resist. To me it has negative connotations of accumulation (and I have discussed this at length in the past). I prefer to have a lean, mean pen tray filled with pens that I use without them drying out first. But I am strongly motivated by buying new shit, so let’s call this 20%.

Hobbyist is an odd word to me, because a hobby is anything you do for fun — which may be using your pens, or collecting them. But in the ‘arts and crafts’ sense, the only thing I do is swatching and ‘currently inked’ lists, messing about with pens, which is maybe 10%.

I do not make, I do not vend. But over the years I have written a shitload of blogs, which I guess accounts for 20% of ‘creator’.

I’m happy with this. Maybe I would like to be a bit more crafty: calligraphy, binding, inkmaking, planner spreads, whatever. But to me writing on paper is enough.

What is something you want to understand better or develop more informed opinions about?

Is it wrong or egotistical to say ‘nothing’? Over the past 9 years or so I have tried thousands of inks and hundreds of pens, and almost all kinds of paper. I don’t intend to become an ink maker or a pen turner, a planner god, a calligrapher… I don’t want to be any more of a bore at dinner parties, so I don’t want to be a historian or a metallurgist. In the sense of being knowledgeable about the stationery industry and the products in it, I feel quite confident.

Where I continue to struggle is understanding myself. I am an absolute sucker for a limited edition. I sell and re-buy pens. I binge and purge. If I could better understand and control my impulses, I would have more money and less anguish.

Actually, there is something: nib grinding. I am pretty good (in a dangerous way) at tuning a nib and I have done some grinding, but there is a 30% chance of me destroying any nib, and I certainly can’t do anything sophisticated. I will never be a Thomas, Jose, CY or Annabel, but I would love to be able to tune delightful nibs.

In the pen community, what's something someone has said or done that stuck with you?

Three things have stuck with me:

Watching Jon start up pensharing.com and relentlessly spreading the love for pens with complete trust in humanity. It’s a joyful thing and made me really feel that this is a community, not just a hobby.

Seeing Jose Munuera relentlessly nibswap, customise and generally fuck about with his pens. It has taught me to be bolder and to really think about what works for me, and then to make that happen. No pen is sacred, it’s a creative tool and you should make it fit you.

Watching Gravitas pens evolve over the years. I remember trying Ben Walsh’s first design and thinking it was pretty good. Every pen of his since has been better, and every time I say ‘this is great, can’t think of anything I would change’. Then the next pen is better. The commitment to continuous improvement, the openness to feedback, the continuous exploration of new techniques and materials… it’s something I wish I could emulate.

There are now 25 hours in a day, a bonus hour is available to use however you like as long as pens or stationery are involved—how do you spend your hour?

Right now, I would catch up on my ink swatching. I’m probably a hundred bottles behind, and I could do with a new and better system. Inks are my Achilles heel: I buy loads, and I forget whether they’re any good, and they languish in a box.

In the pen community yearbook, what would your superlative be? (i.e. "Best ______", "Most _______" "Most likely to _______")

Most likely to sell a pen he just bought a week ago. For sure. The FPUK folks coined the verb ‘to Newmanise’ because I so relentlessly cull my collection.

How do you feel about your handwriting?

I’m comfortable. It’s not amazing, but it has some flourish. I do a great lowercase ‘f’, and I enjoy the loops on my ’g’ and ‘y’. I get told that I have nice handwriting, but I never quite believe it.

99% of what I write is for my eyes only — journal entries, work notes, lists — so I am not terribly worried about whether my writing is ugly.

What is something you are proud of doing, achieving, or overcoming?

In the pen world, it’s building ukfountainpens.com. I wrote over 500 entries in 5 years, grew it to 80,000 views per month, and even today I still find my reviews showing up in Google when I’m looking for pen stuff.

I’m also proud of stepping away from it. The blog had become a millstone around my neck and I enjoyed being free from the perceived obligation to post. I’m kinda sad, but I don’t regret the decision.

You're going on a writing retreat anywhere in the world—where would you go, what would you write, and what would you write with?

100%, immediately and with enthusiasm: Tokyo. My 2019 trip there is still one of the highlights of my life. I would visit Hakase, Bungubox and as many other makers and stores as I could — and hopefully pick up some new pens to write a travel journal. If the writing retreat stretched out more than a few days, I would love to do a long tour of Japan.

What's a current or favorite creative outlet?

I’m totally not a creative person. I’m not artistic: I don’t paint, or draw, or play music. Aside from this blog, the only creative activity I pursue is photography, and I try to pursue that without the burden of being ‘good’. I take snapshots with my Fuji X100VI, and for low-light and wildlife I heft my Nikon ZF.

What's something that causes you benign envy—the kind of admiration and desire that leads to inspiration or motivation?

Instagram is full of benign envy for me. Beautiful collections, beautiful urushi, artwork, ink patterns, planner layouts. Also: when I’m at a pen show and talking to a new acquaintance about their pens and they start to gush, I see their eyes light up… I wish I could feel such intensity about my pens. It makes me see them with fresh eyes.

What's a comfort item, material, or color?

I could answer this in lots of ways, but for me my comfort zone my desk. It’s nothing fancy, just a bamboo thing from IKEA, but it’s tucked away in a corner surrounded by artwork. My pens are there in a little Toyooka chest, and my planner. I slide into my worn desk chair, I turn on the warm light, and pick a pen like I’m choosing from a box of chocolates. A little glass of something or a mug of coffee, half an hour to myself with no obligations… that to me is bliss.

What would be a dream collaboration, project, or partnership?

I am a desperately indecisive person when it comes to creativity. Put something in front of me and I will tell you what I like and dislike about it, but ask me to co-design something and I am overwhelmed by choice.

There are some brands out there that I think would be killer collaborators. Kasama; Tohma; Toyooka; Diamine or KWZ; Schon; Onoto. But like I said, I very rarely have good ideas myself. I prefer to see what the world comes up with.

What I would MOST love to collaborate on right now, if I had to be explicit, is a tungsten or zirconium Gravitas / Kyuseido Kakari, with flat ends, chaos seigaiha engraving, reversible needlepoint/architect ground by CY, and a signature ink in a Sailor vase bottle with matching tungsten / zirconium cap — although don’t ask me what colour yet. Oh, and Nock or Rickshaw with a custom sleeve.