(Caroline Foty's first fountain pen was a 1970s Sheaffer No Nonsense that still writes perfectly. Since she discovered pens by independent makers, she wants "one of each, please" and wants to meet all the makers. Maybe you do, too. She lives in Baltimore with pens, cats, and all kinds of fiber arts supplies.)
Teenage pen snobs, take heart! You have an exciting future ahead of you!
Jon Tello, the artisan behind Hello Tello Studio, Tesori Italy, and the new Scripting New Stories Collective, says he was a “pen snob” even in high school. “I had loaner pens and wouldn’t let anyone touch my own pens.”
An artist who paints, draws, and does graphic design, Tello’s “day job” is working with nonprofits that help artists do community work via the arts around the world. He and his family lived in Italy for almost ten years working with different communities via a Christian nonprofit, and they found that there was a great need for assistance to victims of sex trafficking. Italy is one of the primary destinations for victims of trafficking to Europe, especially for those coming from Africa, and very few resources are available in Italy to help them.
In 2015, when the family was home from Italy for a visit, his wife’s uncle gave him a handmade wooden kit pen for his birthday, and invited him to the workshop to show him how it was made. His interest was immediately piqued – “I didn’t have to settle for ugly pens!” His first kit pens were not fountain pens. “As I grew in making kit pens, I decided I wanted to know why people would spend so much on a fountain pen, what was so great about the writing experience.” A couple of secondhand Italian fountain pens made it all clear. “I was determined to make pens that wrote just as well and were more aesthetically pleasing than the ones I had bought.”
Back in Italy, he began building a shop and making kit pens, selling them via Hello Tello Studio, but quickly felt limited and moved to kitless pens. At the same time, the ongoing need for funds for work with trafficking victims inspired him to raise additional money by selling pens.
When the family prepared to return to Ohio in 2021, they left the shop setup behind, and established Tesori Italy as the legal business entity in Italy for the support of the Alba Safe House that they helped open for victims of trafficking. Tesori (which means “treasures” in honor of the precious value of each survivor,) employs one person, as well as commissioning a survivor to make their handmade pouches. They make kit pens and pens for businesses. Training is ongoing in hopes that the Venice pen can be made there in the future. Tello built a new shop in the US to continue making pens to be sold both through Hello Tello and Tesori.
Tello is clear that he is “an artist at heart,” and sees his pens as functional pieces of art. The Venetian glass work in the cap finials of his pens, along with the body shape and flush cap, are his artistic signatures. This artist’s way of looking at the world means inspiration is everywhere – “Everything inspires me, my brain never stops. I have notebooks full of designs I want to do!” While the artistic possibilities of material making are tempting, he feels there are other places he’d prefer to spend his attention in the development of pens as works of art.
He has two favorite pens that he did not make himself. He won a pen from Tim Cullen of Hooligan Pens with engraved snowflakes that is a favorite. A Legend model by Ryan Krusac, with a scrimshaw design of a dragon on the barrel and dragon scales on the cap, is another pen that is always in use. Both appeal to him as art, beyond their utility as pens.
Like many other makers, Tello has kids who want to get into the act. His six year old daughter decided this year that she wants to make pens for her teachers and friends for Christmas, so he is teaching her the basics of making kit pens, and helping her create printed sleeves so that her work will be nicely packaged.
As if all of the foregoing is not enough to keep him busy, earlier this fall Tello formed the Scripting New Stories Collective to raise funds in an ongoing way for the Alba Safe House. “It really began with Ukraine – makers were stepping up with pen raffles to raise funds for relief, and it was a light bulb moment – the community is interested in doing good so let’s find a way to rally more people.” SNS has a separate identity from Hello Tello because “I don’t want it to be about me.” The response was immediate as makers offered pens for SNS to sell or auction. More donations are always coming. In 2023 the retail aspect of the site will expand with limited editions featuring different makers, with the first one expected from Jim Hinze. Tello says he has received many notes from participating makers thanking him for involving them. “Pen makers are one of the most caring of communities – like a mini extended family. This is a way for people to do what they already do, and have an impact, come together to do good, and be part of something bigger.”
Those notebooks of pen designs will bear fruit in some plans for 2023, involving more metal and glass work and enameling, and at least one new model. “There is no stopping point – you are always growing, there is always more you can do, no end to the creativity.”
Jon Tello’s work can be seen at pen shows in Chicago, DC, Ohio, and Atlanta, as well as at Hello Tello Studio, Tesori Italy, and Scripting New Stories Collective.
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