Upcycled Artwork to Display a Pencil Collection
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I've sort of always had a thing for pencils. Not necessarily using them (I prefer to write with a ball-point pen), but I've always casually just collected and admired them, with their wildly different designs and colors. It's not often that something so useful in everyday life can also be such a universal medium for everyone from children to construction workers to marketing teams and beyond. So I've tossed cool pencils into a drawer for years. And finally a couple months ago, I decided to do something with them.
But even my casual collection over the years wasn't enough for what I had in mind, which was a piece of art that really drew attention to the pencils, showcasing both their similarities and differences at the same time. I asked friends and family members to start saving them for me, and it didn't take long to get a huge box full of wonderful, colorful, writing sticks!
I found just the right base for the piece while browsing a flea market — a vintage wooden silkscreen printing frame, with its perfectly imperfect dents, scratches, and splashes of paint.
I used a staple gun to add some black foam core to the back, and it was good to go.
Then I got out the pencils and started working! I sorted through them, tossing out any duplicates or those that were odd sizes or missing erasers.
Then I started creating rows of pencils. I alternated which direction the pencils pointed (odd rows pointed to the left, even to the right), and made sure each pencil had a nice sharp point on it. After dry-fitting each row, I glued them in place with a hot glue gun.
Sometimes I had to sharpen a pencil until it was several inches shorter, in order to perfectly fill a space in a row. Fortunately, I found that much pencil sharpening to be a pretty satisfying task, at least after I switched to an electric sharpener!
I also did my best to evenly distribute colors across the whole piece, so that there weren't big concentrations of one color in one area.
It was actually pretty quick work, especially compared to the time it took to collect them all. Before I knew it, the frame was filled. And I was completely in love with the result.
My favorite pencils were the ones with writing on them, advertising various schools or businesses. All the colors and designs are mesmerizing, and those who see it can't help but get lost it it, wanting to look at each one. It's definitely my favorite piece of art in the house!
8 comments so far:
Hi there, I love this! I’ve been collecting pencils for years and have been looking for a way to display them. I was just wondering if you could share the size of your frame with me and roughly how many pencils are in there? Trying to gauge what size frame I need, I have close to 200 pencils.
Ria, the frame is 21" x 17", and my estimate (without counting!) is that there are between 220-260 pencils inside. Note that I had to sharpen a lot of them down to a specific size so they would fit, so you may need more or fewer for each row, depending on that. Hope that helps... be sure to tag @chicaandjo on social when you finish so we can see what you created!
Brilliant, thank you so much for your quick response! Will be sure to let you know how I get on and tag upon hopeful completion.
hola! realmente has hecho un trabajo espléndido.quedan muy bien en ese marco especial !! yo tambien tengo una coleccion y son unos 370 lapices, aun busco la manera de mostrarlos, aunque por categorias.Gracias por compartir tu idea.
¡bet, gracias! Buena suerte con tu colección. Nos encantaría ver qué se te ocurre si quieres compartir @chicaandjo
Love this!! I have a box of old pens and pencils that my grandmother collected over twenty plus years. I can’t tell from your picture but is there a cover over the pencils? Didn’t know if you had glass or plastic. Beautiful display. Can’t wait to try to do the same thing.
Miranda, thank you! I did not put a cover over the pencils, because I wanted people to be able to see them closely and touch them.
This is a great idea. Like many here I've collected pencils from the places I've visited. Friends have also given me some from their trips. I am like you in that I want people to admire them and ask about them. Great idea.