April 30, 2012
Not too long ago, Joyce Tombran-Tink got into hand-turning pens on a wood lathe. Joyce happens to be my mother-in-law, and it quickly became evident to those of us around her that she has a natural talent when it comes to working a wood lathe.
Joyce has turned some incredible pens over this past year, and uses unique materials in her work. She seeks out rare and exquisite materials to turn into pens – any where from a simple curly maple wood, to a block of green Jade from Tibet, to a rare, fossilized mammoth tusk excavated from Siberia. It’s become a bit of a running joke, because it’s not uncommon to hear her say “I want to turn that.” You never know what she might turn into a pen next.
Recently, she approached me about doodling on some pen blanks she had turned. She turned the wood and gave them to me to draw on – once finished she put them back on the lathe to finish with a few layers of acrylic, and topped them off with the pen fittings. THey came out pretty nice.
Thanks to Joyce for thinking of me – be sure to look for her work online in the near future. Check out the pictures below, including a really nice bowl she finished last week.
