By Steve and Stephanie Edwards
Friends, this article isn’t about me personally. But I’m going to start with a fact about myself. I love pens. Fancy pens. Heavy pens. Pens that give me the illusion that my handwriting can be as beautiful as the pen itself. Thus I bought pen after pen, hoping this would be ‘the one’ only to be disappointed.
Then my husband and I met AJ who turns pens, along with other items. AJ creates works of art on his lathe as a stress reliever. Fancy pens. Heavy pens. Fascinating pens. ‘The pens’ I always wanted. We commissioned AJ to turn multiple pens for us, then we realized we could do this ourselves, with the encouragement from AJ.
We bought a woodworking lathe and all the necessary tools we would need. We started practicing. Soon we began to uncover the beauty in the grain of various types of wood along with the mysterious colors hiding inside a pen blank following insight, critiquing and advice from AJ and his mentor Ben. Seeing the grains and colors that would become a pen that is cherished by others. We could turn memories into a pen- wood from an old kitchen table, a barn, an iconic tree from a movie or even a piece of a seat from an old sports stadium.
Before we knew it, we had more pens than we needed. We were invited by AJ to join him and Ben selling at craft fairs. At the fairs, we would meet customers who were out looking for a unique one-of-a-kind item and sometimes a great deal. Individuals would stop by our table, admire the beauty of what they were looking at. In viewing items would stir memories they would then share of their family, their past, their struggles, their hopes or dreams that they have.
Some would stop looking for their favorite color to sit on their desk only to find a color they didn’t think they liked previously or combination of colors that intrigued them. Some were interested in a pen that is themed to their favorite hobby, activity, career or interests, such as a dragon, diving, police officer, firefighter or motorcycles.
A pen with a pink ribbon on it, to an oak pen made from the wood from a tree in a movie, sometimes a pen is just there to remind us of who or what’s important in our lives. A pen can help us remember a visitor we had, a loved one we lost, or an unforgettable memory.
We have been told that “people don’t use pens anymore” but we all grab a pen to write a note or leave a message. I think we can all still use a pen or two.Steve and Stephanie Edwards can be reached at 314CraftsSTL@gmail.com and their work can be seen on instagram @314CraftsSTL
AJ can be reached at pofrench@charter.net