[Sold] Acacia Thorn Tree – hand-painted fountain pen

This delicate painting by Lisa Strachan is of the Acacia Thorn Tree’s pretty pom-pom shaped flowers. Another name for the same tree is sweet thorn, due to the tree weeping a sweet gum that was once used in confectionary, and that is loved by animals such as Lesser Bushbabies. It is an integral part of southern African culture with the tree having been used for rope making, for fodder, as an antidote for cattle poisoned from eating particular bulbs, and for fencing for the houses of royal Zulu women.

Lisa is a well known botanic artist who has made the transition from painting on paper to painting on fountain pens, overcoming the challenge of her miniature “canvas”. Imagine painting in such accurate detail on a surface that is about the width of two thumbnails at its widest, and two pinkie-fingernails at its narrowest! On this pen she has painted the flowers, and included details of the leaves and thorns in subtle graphite.

What I find most remarkable is that if this were a traditional botanical art painting, one could frame it and hang it on a wall, but never be able to touch it. With the botanic art being painted on a pen and then protected in a coat of clear resin, one can handle the art, view it at close range, carry it around and use it every day, without fear of damaging the painting.

To give a very brief synopsis of the process that went into making this pen: we made the pen blank from resin, Lisa painted it (applause please!), we then we set it in clear resin, pressurised and cured the resin, turned the final shape, added a grip section with a sterling silver ring as well as a silver centre band, then polished and buffed the pen and finally tuned and added an engraved Jowo nib.

Nib:

Available in Jowo #6 in polished steel. Please select Fine, Medium or Broad at the check-out.