Hope & Courage – hand-painted fountain pen

Hope & Courage is the first of three fountain pens Marian Binder has painted in a series she has called her Spring Pen Bouquet. The pen’s name comes from the origin of the name Iris: in Greek mythology Iris symbolised hope and courage. Iris she was the messenger of the gods and when she came to earth she manifested as a rainbow, with these beautiful flowers blooming wherever she trod.

Marian has an extraordinary eye for detail combined with an artistic flair for portraying flowers in visually striking ways, and this painting is a lovely example of that. She has used a style that is realistic, yet not traditional botanic art, and placed the two types of purple irises against a complementary chartreuse colour. The effect is brilliant. Together we paired this with a slightly darker yellow-green section material that ties together the chartreuse with the darker green of the flower stems.

The others in the series are a pen with tulips and one with snowdrops.

Some more background on the process: We created the blank which Marian then painted. Once she had completed her artwork, we coated it in a layer of clear resin so as to allow the ultimate owner to carry and use this art on a daily basis without it getting scratched or damaged. We also added the grip section, then did a final shaping, polishing and buffing. Finally we will tune the nib once the new owner has chosen the nib width they would prefer. The end product is a portable, functional, one-of-a kind work of art.

This particular pen also has a sterling silver cap band and section ring, and a medallion embedded in the cap finial which has our logo in bronze.

Nib:

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