Giant Steel Dip Pen and Penholder for Demonstration and Display

I am soliciting $4,500 to manufacture a giant steel dip pen and penholder for public demonstration and display. I hope to promote the understanding and use of this beautiful piece of ancient technology through a series of performances, as well as create an art object in itself.

The dip pen is a bit of fetish item for me (as it is for many pen users). The pen is extremely difficult to master but ultimately allows for an extraordinary degree of expression. The well-constructed pen and ink drawing is a monument to perseverance, requiring tremendous patience and control. I am thrilled by the challenge of creating such drawings in public and introducing new audiences to the allure of the medium. The pen (nib) itself will be approximately 16 inches long, made of steel and fully functional. The holder will be six feet long and made of wood with a metal sleeve insert to hold the pen. Nib and holder will resemble as closely as possible the actual implements on which they are based.

Once the pen and penholder are built I will train myself to ink with it; and once I've done that, I will arrange at least two public performances in which I will use the pen to ink large graphite drawings on 3' x 5' sheets of bristol.

The money raised will go towards the engineering and manufacture of the steel nib; the creation of the pen holder, which will be hand turned and lacquered with a cork wrapping and metal insert with spring retainer; the supplies to create the public drawings (ink, paper, graphite, eraser, and); and the creation of the drawing table itself.

Thank you very much for your interest and support.