A collaborative piece

[DCBluesman]

This pen is the result of a friendship that extends back several months. I have been collaborating with a South African artist on some music. During that time, he and I agreed to collaborate on a pen. I selected a 5/8" piece of pre-ban elephant ivory and turned it round. I then sent it to S.A. where he scribed a design, based on one of his paintings, and sent it back. The removed area was filled with ground turquoise and malachite, the blues and greens of his painting. Due to the extreme sensitivity of elephant ivory to heat and aridity, the blank was turned over several days and sanded over a week. There is no finish as it needs to breathe.

Comments and critiques are welcome.

 

[darbytee]

Beautiful Lou. I saw this on the albums page earlier and hoped you'd make a post about it. I like it even more now that I've heard the story.

 

[Travlr7]

Truly an INTERNATIONAL Pen!

Very nice.

Bruce

 

[opus]

Great pen Lou, made better with the story

 

[WoodChucker]

Lou, nice story and a beautiful pen, thanks for sharing!

 

[KKingery]

That's a true collector piece Lou! Excellent!

 

[ryannmphs]

WOW, and that's an understatement Lou, that's beautiful!!

Ryan

 

[swm6500]

Hey Lou, that is a good looking pen. Collaboration worked well for this pen.

 

[woodscavenger]

That's one for the books. Well done. Great story of friendship.

 

[Tom McMillan]

Really nice Lou!!! A travelin pen, huh?

 

[pipemaker]

Lou, that is a great looking pen.
Just shows you what one elephant and two artists can produce.

 

[DCBluesman]

Thank you all. I will share the comments with Ewe. He's an amazing bass player, poet and budding artist. I'm hoping to one day make the trip that the pen made.

 

[rtgleck]

Lou,

Great job on collaboration and a very nice pen you have there. Curious about the sensitivity of Elephant Ivory though. I was just geven some (only enough for laminations and stuff) but your comments about how you finished and left it unfinished got my curiosity. If you wouldn't mind expanding a little on that I'd appreciate it. I had searched here before but didn't find much on the topic. I may have searched wrong though.

 

[Brent]

Beautiful pen Lou, It must have taken a lot of patience to do that one. Just wondering what gouge or skew did you use.

 

[DCBluesman]

<b>Randy</b>--ivory is highly sensitive to cracking and splitting. Excessive changes in temperature or excessive dryness are generally the culprit. I store my ivory in a cigar humidor. I've turned a few centerbands before which is where I found out, the hard way, about heat from tooling and sanding. I initially had turned and sanded the cb's just like they were wood. Two days later the cb's were split all the way through.
<b>Brent</b>--I used a 1/2" skew for turning. I checked the surface temperature as I went along and chose to stop when the temperature had increased by about five degrees. The piece was sanded from 220 through MM12000. After each grit (220, 320, 400 and MM1500) I let the piece rest for a day. For MM1800 through MM12000 I let the piece rest for at least two hours between each grit. Knowing me, this was probably overkill, but the blanks have been finished for 4 days prior to assembly and, knock on wood, no cracking or splitting.

As for patience, international mail will teach you that even if nothing else has. []

 

[PenWorks]

Very nice Lou, just curious, seems like allot of ivory, how much was that blank?
If you don't mind sayin. I never bought ivory or priced it.

 

[Gregory Huey]

Great job Lou. You are right about it being very sensitive to temp.& humidity. I made one hear in MD. and sent it to Washington State. Fine when it left here,cracked when it got there. Again Very nice pen.

 

[leehljp]

Beautiful pens! I have a few small pieces of pre ban ivory also, but nothing like that. Beautiful and artistic!

 

[opfoto]

Nice looking pen Lou. Great story. The collaboration was well worth the effort.

 

[DCBluesman]

Originally posted by penworks
<br />Very nice Lou, just curious, seems like allot of ivory, how much was that blank?If you don't mind sayin. I never bought ivory or priced it.

For me, it's stupid expensive, Anthony. I've had this blank and a few 1/2"-ers for a while, but I think the 5/8" piece was $75. Needless to say, I don't stock many. []

Thanks again for the kind words, folks. I think another collaboration may be called for--maybe with another artist friend--an aborigine down in Australia. Come to think of it, I think she plays a diggeridoo. More music, more pens!

 

[JimGo]

Wow Lou, that's a beauty! Hope to see it in person next time we get together, if it's not on its way to SA again!

 

[mik]

Nice job Lou - I lived out in Africa - Zimbabwe - 27 yrs - but never turned any ivory![8D]

 

[Fleabit]

I like the look of the ivory.

 

[DCBluesman]

Thanks, Jim. I'll be sure to bring it the next time we get together. Thanks, Mike and Fleabit. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Daniel]

Lou, That is a real treasure. I have three pens that where a simular colaboration. I think htey are still in my album. if not I will put them there. they are painted in one stroke paint form by a very accomplished artist. she contacted me to ask for the exchange of talent. I will not part with my memoirs of the event.

 

[old folks]

Lou, I love the pen and the story that goes with it !

 

[DCBluesman]

Thanks, Daniel and John--and everyone else who has looked!

 

[jdavis]

Very beautiful Lou. Raising the bar again. Thanks.

 

[Rifleman1776]

That certainly is a very special pen, Lou. Ivory does have that reputation for not liking to be worked with power tools. I was once asked if I would make an ivory duck call. At first I refused but the guy was persistent so I laid out some conditions. Material paid for up front, a contract of no liability for me if it failed and I would still get paid, a bunch, for my trouble. Actually, it would have taken a huge amount of money to tempt me to do that job. Boring a 3/4" hole alone would be a risky proposistion. Your pen will take on a beautiful patina with age and handling.

 

[pastorbill1952]

Great looking pen and story. Bringing peace in or time with one pen at a time.

 

[DCBluesman]

Thanks Jack, Frank and Bill. I appreciate your words and your time in looking.