When I received an email with this link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/7916457/Pencil-sculptures-miniature-masterpieces-carved-into-graphite-by-Dalton-Ghetti.html?image=16
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was mesmerized by the detail and the intricacy of the carvings and more impressed that they were carved from the graphite of pencils.
I have a love of pencils, collected them all my life, perhaps it goes back to the little black dot tattoo I received when stabbed by a classmate with a pencil. I have all of my pencils sitting neatly organized in various jars with lids according to their size, not by color. I have favorites and mostly because of the softness or hardness of the pencil, which drastically affects the feel when I actually use them for drawing or writing. Over the course of years of use many have worn down to a size that is almost impossible to use but I can’t throw them away, they just move into a smaller jar. Some are used very little but I love them just the same, especially the ones that carpenters use. I even have to resist buying them when I am at the check out stand at Home Depot, where they sit all nice and new. With the carpenter pencil the lead is wide and flat and usually when used by real carpenters is sharpened by hand with a knife or box cutter. These pencils don’t fit into any automated pencil sharpeners, which also brings to mind my collection of sharpeners. I have a couple of electric pencil sharpeners but the ones that I gravitate to regularly are the old style hand cranks. The best one is a glorious red/orange with a little wheel that turns to accommodate different sizes of pencils. I am partial to this one for exactly that reason. Because I keep pencils of yore many don’t fit into the new electric sharpeners so what would I do without my antiques?
After seeing the pencil graphite carvings of Dalton Ghetti, my obsessions with pencils grew two fold. I thought about the pencils I threw out when they were run over by the car, My imagination worked overtime with ideas of what I could do with all the pencils that were not my favorites, that sat alone in their jars. I knew where I kept my carpenters pencils that never got used so I took them out along with my Exacto knife and started to work on my own carving. It would be the perfect gift for my Father’s birthday, which is coming up soon. The only question was if I had enough patience and skill to actually carve something from the tip of a pencil. Whatever the outcome, I decided it was worth a try and so far I haven’t broken the graphite and it’s been fun. We will see what comes out of a carpenter’s pencil.
So after a leisurely morning of pancakes from Batter Blaster, I had the pencil carvings right next to my coffee pot and newspaper on the table so they called to me to do more experimentation. Yesterday I finished the pencil for my Dad’s birthday, a heart with an R beneath carved from the pencil lead. Sometimes the heart resembles rabbit ears resting on top of the R that sometimes looks like a B but in the end I was satisfied with the outcome from my first attempt. There is a fine line between striving for something a little more perfect and overworking a piece of work. I fall some where in between when I have gotten to a place where I don’t want to mess with it too much. In painting I have a harder time deciding when to stop or when to add more. After looking at all the photos up close, I see imperfections that I want to continue to work on but I wonder if too much perfection isn’t good. Besides I have a week to finish the complete box that I want to put the pencil in so I’d better start to think about how to display the pencil and what I am going to use as a backdrop. The shadow box is small so I don’t want to put too much in it. Am thinking of propping the pencil on top of some river rocks. Get out the super glue!!
Next I decided to make a carving of a church tower with a cross at the top, the inspiration was the adobe Sanctuario in New Mexico, rough and with the hand carved look. Given the size of the carpenters pencil it may evolve into a taller building than the Sanctuario but we shall see. I haven’t started on the cross yet because that is the most delicate part but it’s coming along. I’ve carved a window at the top of the church and am working on some doors/windows a little further down. As I learn how to carve out the miniscule windows it occurs to me to put rows of window all down the length of the pencil and then I cringe and think, “better not”. Keep it simple has to be my mantra.
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