I’ve decided to start drawing again, and I thought I’d kickstart this with a month-long project. I have a Moleskine sketchbook, and will try to fill it with sketches and drawings throughout the month of March. The book is in A5 format and has 192 pages, which gives an average of 6-7 pages per day. It should be manageable, I think, but we’ll see how much else I will also have to do in the coming month. I have a lot of…
Over the years, there have been several attempts to start up pencil production here in Norway. The most famous examples are Den Norske Blyantfabrikk and Oslo Blyantfabrikk, which I wrote a comprehensive article about in May 2022 (published in English in August 2023). In my research about the two Senja brothers who each started a pencil factory, I also found references to several other Norwegian pencil factories. In this article, I will share what I’ve been able to find about these lesser-known factories. Several…
This post is about a forgotten pencil maker who contributed to unrest in the British Parliament one summer’s day in the late 1800s. You will get to know a pencil pioneer who went from running a one person craft business that developed into a successful industrial enterprise. Last but not least, you will receive a thorough introduction to how you can protect your tip. Most tips remain unprotected even in 2024. It is time that this neglected task was addressed. One would think…
This article was originally published in Norwegian at Pennen er mektigere, on May 8, 2022. In this article you will read about fish theft, arson, tax and insurance fraud. It’s about the demolition of a district in the capital, and about being on the wrong side in a war. We will meet a non-commissioned officer, teacher, organist, writer, merchant and factory owner. Yes, and an opera singer! And we will hear about a couple of brothers from Senja who moved to Oslo and each…