David and Leah Gessner give new life to distressed and discarded Vermont lumber remnants by transforming them into useful everyday items—high quality pens and pencils. I visited their website, Handmade Maple Pens, and instantly fell in love with their colorful thick barreled Artist's Sketch Pencils. With their 5.6 mm 4B leads and $75 price tag, these objects of beauty are also practical and reasonably priced drawing tools. They come in natural or black Vermont Tiger Maple, but I find the brightly stained (red, blue, green, orange, purple) finishes artistically inspiring. These are happy pencils.
The Gessners also make .7mm mechanical pencils, rollerball pens, fountain pens, and ball point pens. They even have double ended ball point pens that can be customized with two ink colors of your choice, or an ink and highlighter or PDA stylus. And don't let the name Handmade Maple Pens fool you. The Gessners work with several Vermont hardwoods: Cherry, Black Walnut, Maple, Oak, and Birch. Time and the mysteries of nature add even more variety to the mix, for example Birdseye Maple and burl wood in several species. And then, of course, David and Leah add to the customization options with choices of stain and metal trim. The Artist's Sketch Pencils, for example, are offered with chrome, gold, or black chrome trim, while the Guildford Ballpoint Pens come with either rhodium or gold. Prices range from $60-$200.
The website is easy to navigate. You can go straight to the search box to find all pencils or a specific type of pen (fountain, ballpoint, rollerball).
Handmade Maple Pens Online Store
Handmade Maple Pens
93 March Davis Drive
Guilford, VT 05301
