As you know if you follow the blog, last weekend was the 2016 Chicago Pen Show. Above is a photo from Thursday, before the show was set up for the public, and before most of the vendors had even arrived. What a carpet, huh?
This year the pen show went from Thursday, April 28 through Sunday, May 1. I was helping out, so I was there every day. On the good news/bad news front, I hardly had any time to shop for myself. But that’s okay. If you aren’t a serious collector, a pen show can be kind of a reconnoitering mission. You see things, and you mull.
But the show was amazing. I’d like to give a briefer overview in this part, and then in the next part go more in depth about some of the pens and people.
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Fountain Pen Follies 
Yes, I love R&K inks. Alt-Goldgrün isn’t really my favorite, but everyone I know loves it, and it’s a great match for the Lamy Charged Green Al-Star if that ever makes it into your pen collection.
I did hear about Tekker ink! It’s an interesting concept, isn’t it? I look forward to hearing more about it. I notice they emphasize that the inks are tested and safe, and that’s really important to me.
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They have quite a discussion going over at FPN about those inks. I’m curious to hear more of them soon, too. They’re not too long in business yet, it seems.
I don’t (yet) do matching of pens and inks, mostly because I don’t have that many pens yet. I still am in my trial phase. 🙂 I’ll have some Italix pens up soon, by Mr. Pen. Those would be gorgeous for your reds and greens, really. The pens are really beautiful, and the nibs are, as the name says, available in various italic options – which is why I got some.
I am looking forward to some Tekker reviews by people who can actually buy them 🙂 They don’t (yet) ship internationally.
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I totally would have slummed the whole weekend at the ink testing station 🙂
Perfect shade of blue… you still evade me. And I recently expanded my search into browns and reds and greens… such folly.
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Here’s my problem: I love them all. 🙂 Blues and blue blacks, unusual greens, reds even. And definitely browns. And you didn’t mention pinks or blacks, but I love those, too. Fountain pen inks suck you in that way, because the variety is fantastic.
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I’m not so much one for pinks and blacks, to be honest. Though I might be taken in by some of the purples. 🙂 So yeah, same here. I might even go for an interesting grey tone sometimes, though I’m too deep into the others as of yet. As for unusual greens, did you try the Rohrer + Klingner Alt-Goldgrün yet? That certainly is an unusual one. I love it – and they come really cheap here, since they’re German (finally one that doesn’t cost a fortune here…)
So yeah, I might not love them all, but I certainly love most of them.
And you might kill me next, but did you hear of Tekker ink yet? 🙂 I saw this review
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvV0tHxR9O0 )
on the inkspot youtube channel the other day, and it certainly sounds… tempting 🙂 They’re just not as highly saturated as I like them, it seems, but… still tempted. The only thing keeping me from trying them out is that they’re in the US and I’d pay a fortune in shipping again.
(and no, not affiliated at all, just stumbled upon it and really love the concept)
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