My first glass pen was a souvenir from a friend. I no longer have it, but it began a low-key love of this alternative writing instrument. Today’s glass pen is usually marketed as a calligraphy pen, even if most don’t write all that well. Much of that can be traced to the style of the …
Sand and fire make glass. I think of this while looking at Chiqui’s gift from Venice, a glass pen that looks like amber, with a surge of turquoise sea and gold foil inside. Glassworkers stretch the glass on iron rods while it’s hot and taffy-like; they know to the second how it will twist and …