Pen Show Seminars
2024 Seminars and Workshops
Friday
11am - 12pm - Are You Pelikan Curious? - Chicago Room, FREE
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm - Vintage Pen Panel Discussion, Illinois Room, FREE
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm - Vintage Pen "Tasting", presented by the PCA and Pen Notes Project, Illinois Room, FREE
Saturday
10am - 12pm - American Cursive Handwriting, Chicago Room $50, limit of 20, register here
10am - 11am - Sparking a Journaling Practice, Salt Creek FREE
1pm - 2pm -Parker Vac Extractor, Poplar Creek Room, FREE
2pm - 4pm - Ornamental Capitals, Chicago Room. $50. class limit of 12, register here
3pm - 4pm - Sparking a Journaling Practice, Salt Creek FREE
Sunday
8:30 am - 9:30 am - Nibs 101: Nib Anatomy, Smoothing and Adjusting Techniques, $30, Popular Creek Room, class limit of.12, FULL
11 am - 12 pm - Pop Up Cards Workshop, Chicago Room, $25, class size 30, register here
1 pm - 3:30 pm -CREATING ARTISTIC PENMANSHIP FOR FRAMEABLE DISPLAY with
Michael Sull, $50, class size of 15, Chicago Room. To register, contact Michael Sull by email (penmanmichaelsull@gmail.com) prior to the Pen Show to reserve their place in class. Payment for the class can be made in class at the show.
Learn more info about each Seminar/workshop below
Friday 11am - 12pm Are You Pelikan Curious? - Chicago Room, FREE Join Rick Propas and Danny Aarons of the penguin in a conversation that will explore the history and product development of Pelikan from the firm’s current offerings to the origins in 1929 We’ll present a quick summary of the pens and the company’s development, but we’ll spend most of the hour in discussion—so come prepared with questions and feel free to bring along any odd or interesting Pelikans for show and tell.
Friday 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm - Vintage Pen Panel Discussion, Illinois Room, FREE An interactive panel discussion introducing you to vintage fountain pens. The world of vintage pens offers an incredible opportunity to add fascinating, beautiful, and functional pens to your collection for relatively low costs. But where to start? What should you look for? Is it all about flex? What if the nibs are scratchy? Is it hard to clean and polish the pens? Can they be fixed and what about parts? Where can I learn more if I am curious? Seasoned collectors are here to answer all your questions about buying, using, and caring for vintage pens.
Friday 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm - Vintage Pen "Tasting", presented by the PCA and Pen Notes Project, Illinois Room, FREE Come and try a variety of vintage pens! Not only can you use vintage pens, but they often offer a unique and beautiful writing experience that makes an excellent addition to your modern pen collection. We will supply the pens, ink, paper, and experienced vintage pen enthusiasts will be there to guide you and answer all questions. Beginner questions are welcomed and encouraged! You can learn to fill and empty a variety of vintage pen filling systems. Become comfortable with levers, plungers, and more.
Saturday 10am - 12pm American Cursive Handwriting, Chicago Room $50, limit of 20, register here "Hong Nguyen is a Master Penman who—after devoting effort, patience, and time to penmanship—was officially certified by Master Penman Michael R. Sull at the 2021 Ohio Pen Show. All who are interested in learning about and improving their everyday writing (taking notes, writing cards for ones you care about, etc.) are welcome to attend this workshop. She is looking forward to meeting and teaching everyone who desires to progress in American Cursive. Hong Nguyen is also a certified, experienced instructor who has taught and helped many people of various backgrounds. Her skill and resolution has been acknowledged not only through awards, but also through the words of her students and mentors. Her goal is to help people improve and appreciate the joy that handwriting brings, and these sentiments show that it is well within reach." Class limit: 20 people 2 hours: $50 Handouts and materials are included.
Saturday 10am - 11am Sparking a Journaling Practice, Salt Creek FREE Forming a journaling practice supports mental well-being as well as being a great way to keep memories and document events, not to mention it's a great excuse to use our favorite pens and papers! Bring something to write with and write on while we explore some different writing prompts and journal methods. KC is @dimenovelraven on Instagram and has a pen/paper blog at dimenovelraven.com.
Saturday 1pm - 2pm Parker Vac Extractor, Poplar Creek Room, FREE Scott Pauley developed a new tool to remove the vac filler from Parker Vacumatics. It is called The “Parker” Vac Extractor or Vac Extractor. Come learn about the tool and how the concept and design came to be as well as giving some training on the proper use of it as well as the features that make this tool out perform the other tools such as the Vac Blocks (which I also make and sell.) and the Vac Wrench type tools.
Saturday 2pm - 4pm Ornamental Capitals, Chicago Room, $50, class limit of 12. Come and join Hong Nguyen at her workshop at the 2024 Chicago Pen Show: The Ornamental Capitals . Although ninety percent of the time we write in lowercase, stunning uppercase letters help spice up our writing, make it stand out, and impress the audience with it. Ornamental Capitalizing on the impact that intricate uppercase letters have will make your work ascend to the next level, transforming it from beauty into an astonishing piece of art, bound to remain in the memories of everyone who notices it. Each stroke of the pen creating a majuscule letter is a subtle stroke of genius, fitting together into a florid puzzle introducing each sentence, eventually forming labyrinthine paragraphs of artistry. Duration: 2 hours Fee: 50 (handouts are included) Please bring your favorite pens and ink
Saturday 3pm - 4pm Sparking a Journaling Practice, Salt Creek FREE Forming a journaling practice supports mental well-being as well as being a great way to keep memories and document events, not to mention it's a great excuse to use our favorite pens and papers! Bring something to write with and write on while we explore some different writing prompts and journal methods. KC is @dimenovelraven on Instagram and has a pen/paper blog at dimenovelraven.com.
Sunday 8:30 am - 9:30 am Nibs 101: Nib Anatomy, Smoothing and Adjusting Techniques.Poplar Creek Room, $30, class limit 12. FULL For those who learn best by getting their hands involved, Nib Tailor will guide participants through fountain pen nib anatomy and manipulation to better understand the fundamentals of what makes a nib write well. Please bring the best quality 10x loupe that you have access to -- (If possible, it's better to borrow a decent loupe from a friend rather than rush out and buy a cheap one. Any power from 7x to 12x should work, 10x Triplet lens is a solid standard.) $30 per person for the "hands on" workshop of twelve participants. The fee includes necessary nib maintenance materials which you will take home at the end. When possible, free auditing of the workshop can be done from the back of the room so long as it does not interfere with the "hands on" learners.
Sunday 11 am - 12 pm Pop Up Cards Workshop, $25, class limit 30 "Everytime I open a pop-up book/card, I feel like a child again with great sense of wonder..." Do you share that same feeling? Ever curious about how those pop-up structures are made? Join this workshop with artisan Link Tong to learn about basic pop-up techniques. You will have chance to make your own 3 -4 pop up cards to decorate your home or to give to your loved one. Come to learn, have fun, and bring out your inner child :) Link Tong is a certified florist, paper artist, and founder of Roses Without Thorns - Toronto based craft business that specializes in pop up cards since 2014. Their unique cards (a.k.a works of art) have been adored at pen shows across North America and featured on Pen World Magazine.
1 pm - 3:30 pm -CREATING ARTISTIC PENMANSHIP FOR FRAMEABLE DISPLAY with Michael Sull, $50, class size of 15, Chicago Room., $50, class size of 15, Chicago Room. To register, contact Michael Sull by email (penmanmichaelsull@gmail.com) prior to the Pen Show to reserve their place in class. Payment for the class can be made in class at the show. If you enjoy handwriting or vintage penmanship, have you ever seen a quotation or poem that you would like to write out artistically so that it could a framed work of art? In this workshop, I will show the techniques that I use to do such artistic work, including creating your layout design, how to center the lines of your text, and methods of flourishing for both letters and stand-alone designs. Handouts will be provided to show flourished script capitals and examples of pen flourishing designs that are attractive and easy to do. All of this can be done with fountain pens, gel writers, or with oblique pen holders and ink. Demonstrations will include the use of color, and recommendations for inks and paper. Students should bring paper and both black-lead and a colored-lead pencil, plus your writing instrument of choice to do the actual writing. Suggest that each student have a small (no more than eight lines in length) quotation, or excerpt from poetry or Scripture they wish to write. Graph paper and art paper will be provided. Class duration: 2 1/2 hours Cost per student: $50.