Pelikan took a new step towards social engagement with its fanbase today in an effort to overcome the disconnect brought about by the unfortunate postponement of their Hubs event for the last two years. It was 2019 when the world was last able to safely gather in fellowship around their passion for pens and the fine writing/drawing community. In today’s announcement, the company says; “We would like to offer all fountain pen fans an opportunity to be surprised by their own creativity.” To that end, Pelikan plans to offer a much more intimate and exclusive venue for sharing such passions. Like many other things that we have become accustomed to over the course of this pandemic, the experience will be a virtual one. A total of four opportunities over two days are to be made available, billed as on-line tutorials, hosted in collaboration with a professional artist. While many of us may think of our pens as best suited for writing, these tutorials look to unleash the more creative side of your nibs, extending their utility to drawing and design, something that you may not have explored previously. To guide that experience, Christiane ten Hoevel, a seasoned artist, has been tapped to lead these workshops. Tickets are limited and sure to go fast. Read on to learn about all of the known details.

Christiane ten Hoevel is an artist residing in Berlin, Germany and who studied at the Berlin University of the Arts, majoring in multimedia design. She began her professional work in 1992 and has been engaging in seminars and workshops since 2002 in an effort to pass on her passion for art. She has numerous exhibitions, prizes, grants, lectures, publications, and project collaborations to her credit. In describing her approach, she says;

“For me, artistic work is much more than creating beautiful pictures. Rather, it is my way of seeing and thinking about the world. I like to describe it as a practical philosophy, a thinking that runs through doing. The hand shows the head what it cannot grasp with words.”

For the workshops, the following items are considered required materials:

• One or more fountain pens of your choosing
• Two or more colors of ink
• A soft brush
• Smooth white paper (A4 / 8.25×11.75″)
• An open mind and a good mood

Each workshop will be conducted in English and last approximately 90 minutes. There will be two separate seminars, each occurring twice in the same day. The time slots are Central European Time (CET) and the first is at 8am with the second at 8pm. For me, residing on the East coast of the USA, that would be 2am and 2pm EST (corresponding times will vary by your location). You can only register for one of the time slots in a given day and there appears to be as few as 30 tickets available to each. The two themed events are as follows;

“From Doodling To Writing” – Saturday, December 4th, 2021, from 8am-9:30am CET and 8pm-9:30pm CET

A slowing-down-experience of feeling different fountain pen strokes flowing out of your hand and finally becoming writing.

“Painting Meets Writing” – Saturday, December 18th, 2021, from 8am-9:30am CET and 8pm-9:30pm CET

When two become one: it is a newly created impression when written lines meet a picture.

Registration is being handled through Eventbrite and can be found here. At the time of this publication, the currently scheduled sessions have anywhere from 17 to 24 spots remaining and these aren’t likely to last. Will you be joining Pelikan and their artist collaborator, Christiane ten Hoevel, for either of these events? Leave me a message below letting me know what you think of this creative new effort at social engagement.

UPDATE (12/1/21): As of December 1st, all tickets have been claimed and the event is now SOLD OUT.