This is absolutely one of my GRAIL BIRDS. Pen folks have grail pens, but this would be an absolute dream to be in the presence of one of these ancient, strange, docile, deadly birds. Yet another terrific ink from the Avian series by Anderillium! This is the final Avian ink, so here they are from
One of the two species of birds you CAN spot in the US the is pink because of its diet, the Roseate Spoonbill is easier to spot than the American Flamingo (captive flamingos with clipped wings don’t count). Speaking of Flamingos, Ohio recorded its first ever American Flamingo, as did other Midwest states, last fall
Terrific color, and a terrific bird! Go find yourself one in the wild to observe, and see if you don’t think the same as JJ (see quote below).
I’m faulting the two misbehaving pens (as opposed to my still-atrocious handwriting – forgive me Michael Sull) for the way this looks, because the ink seems well-behaved enough. Speaking of Michael Sull, he’s one of only a handful of living Master Penman, and I have all of his books but simply haven’t put in the
There are red birds like the beautiful Northern Cardinal, and then there are neon red birds like the Scarlet Tanager. There are yellow birds, and then there is the neon yellow of a male American Goldfinch at the height of breeding season. And there are blue birds like the Blue Jay, and then there is
This is the first non-North American species, but it’s not the first lovely ink, as all three have been terrific (a bold yellow – always a tough color – a gently elegant grey black, and now this lovely green). Anderillium is a Minneapolis-area company that handcrafts their inks and cares deeply about protecting our oceans
So far I’d say this is more a dark grey than a black, but it’s a lovely color to write with. And who doesn’t still think of Katharine Hepburn and the loons?
Happy New Year! Last years ink a day project became more than I could manage daily, and while I have completed almost seven months of that project and will continue to work on it, it’s time for the 2024 Bottle a Day! Yep, 366 bottles of ink. I’m going to go in alphabetical order by
I collect only one series of fountain pens: Special Edition LAMY Safaris. Today’s ink was released at the same time as the rarest pen I own from that series: the Petrol. It takes a lot of work to see a cuckoo in Ohio (Black-billed Cuckoo and Yellow-billed Cuckoo), as they sit silently in dense foliage
This is a beautiful ink, which seems fitting for these beautiful, mysterious birds of sub Saharan Africa.
Including a Calendar of Days, cocktails to celebrate throughout the year, and a avian journey of taxonomic discovery!
Socrates
The Choirmaster’s Pursuits 