and then there's China

I ran into this when making items for American Veterans- very few raw material products are still made in the United States.  It started with yarn. Lion Brand Fisherman wool yarn was my favorite yarn. Then I found out it is made in China, and I went back to spinning my own yarn, with wool from my brother's farm.

With art or in this case, calligraphy, and as a Fine Artist, I knew I would both not be able to remove all international products from my studio, but also that I probably didn't want to, simply because of quality.

I thought I had no problem with this project once I received an email from Hunt / Speedball about their pens, and the company stating all their products are made in America. Well, they should have clarified, and this is just like Crayola. No, actually, they aren't.  The older style pen nibs and holders are made in America. The current Speedball calligraphy sets are made in China.

This is like Singer, Levi's, Lion Brand, Sheaffer, Cross, and the list goes on. Almost any of my preferred manufacturers are now using China as a manufacturing point.

So, here I was, balancing India ink on thin brown paper with Hunt nibs, and it not looking all that "well" as a pen and ink artist would have it look, so I decided to look for the modern Speedball calligraphy pen, planning on using that for the lesser ink flow on this paper.  Boom! Made in China.

So, yes, Speedball Customer Service was selective in the facts they emailed to me. On the plus side, as an artist, I now know I probably cannot use an "all-American" pen type for this project, as Speedball was my last hope. The down side, what will I use?  I have several choices, but all roads lead to China. I am going to take the attitude that I can use ANY pen set, because I will be using what is current in today's world, and not necessarily what would have been true when these soldiers went to North Korea. Currently, we need to get people in high places to READ THEIR NAMES BRING THEM HOME, and fiddling over this manufacturing downslide is not helping that.  Maybe every page will now be different, in different colors. We will see what develops.......

I may use my glass pens. Most are made in China, so we'd be getting things directly from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Also China backs North Korea, and if the US administration played their cards right, could possibly assist in getting our soldiers home. Other than that, don't ask me, because I can't otherwise justify using Chinese-made materials on this project. Glass is molten and neutral is about all I got. If I use Sumi ink after I run out of India Ink, we will have the blessings of pine trees in Japan, the neighbors to our fallen soldiers, and those closest to their whispers.

But here is a fairly American choice - a Sheaffer Viewpoint pen, currently available, fine nib. And instead of the brown "trash" paper from shipping boxes, good old American, save a tree (plant one for every 3 taken), notebook paper. You see, I am trying to find a balance of respect and materials.

I just spent another hour reviewing all of my materials, brands, types, etc.  I have PTSD. One thing I had discovered lately is that using glass pens to write gives me more of "my own hand". With PTSD this helps determining how I am doing, and whether or not a seizure is about to begin. When I think of me, and this project is going to take quite some time, and because I am moving, perhaps not always in a studio, then yes, glass pens seem best.  They can also take any ink.  I would be using my own hand, on good days and bad days, to remember soldiers we have left behind in North Korea, or missing from the Korean War. It might be the most I can give them - my own handwriting, without special nibs.

Brown Paper and India Ink

I have decided to use Hunt / Speedball dip pens for this project. These pens were the "American" pen to me as I started pen and ink over 42 years ago, and I have just received an email response from the company that the pens are still Made In America!

Here is a video about choosing these and why: READ THEIR NAMES BRING THEM HOME, yes, all caps.

As I state in the video I will be posting photos of the pages as I finish each state.

Alabama, 148 soldiers missing

From the state of Alabama, there are 148 Korean War soldiers unaccounted for. I am starting here, with A for Alabama, and will go down the list of states.  I will post a photo when this first list is finished.

I have and will print the lists for each state before I hand-write each name - below are the lists for Alabama. "They" say that email and online communications are "better", but I disagree. I believe writing by hand is a gift we should cherish, just like our soldiers. I am not sure yet whether I will be mailing these to state Congressional leaders, or collectively to the White House. I think they all need a reminder.

Of Mice and Soldiers

A List Of Mice


Recently, I have had a slight mouse problem in my house. Despite advice from many, I decided not to kill them with snap-traps, but to use traps that trap them, but cause no harm.  They then are supposed to get released at least a mile away, so that they don't come back.  That was the plan...

Please see the videos regarding the mice on this Playlist (Wildlife), and start at the sixth video down, "Jumper and "his" Mother".  So that was the mice.

As I was dealing with this, more and more people told me I was "nuts" to risk hantavirus, or Lyme disease, or to risk my dog and her liver failure from mouse-carried disease, that mice are "vermin", and "disposable". Well, so, maybe.....  But as these comments kept coming at me, and in parallel to comments made about immigrants, or mentally ill, (by Trump, as he refers to himself), I realized something.  Jumper and his mother kept coming back to my house. As if there was a reason.  I found myself making a "List of Mice".

I have some pent-up anger going on about the 7800+ MIA Korean War. First, I only found out about them in any detail about a month and a half ago, as I ran across something to do with my Quilts For Veterans Project.  Then, it dawned on me, slowly, that it has been 67 years, and our administrations at the federal level have all but forgotten these soldiers.  7800+ men.  Or mice. Because to our country right now, these soldiers seem disposable. They're dead already.  And I remember a time when the thought of leaving them behind in any way would have had a hush over the entire country.  Because it IS a sacrilege.

My father Served in the United States Army during 1951-1953, yes, during the Korean War. He was sent to Occupied Germany instead of Korea. He came home.  If he had been sent to Korea, and had been killed, his name would be on the lists of MIA.  Now, Germany was no picnic, he was shot at daily.  He was scared much of the time. But he did come home.

And yet, what if he had been sent to Korea?  Are we only to take care of our own families? to stay within our small circles and say "tough luck, and thank you" to those families with no closure?

I am a Fine Artist, a pen and ink artist who also works in other media. My "List of Mice" is really a "List of Soldiers". I plan on writing their names. By State. And then mailing the hand-written list to members of Congress who somehow don't have time to Read Their Names, Bring Them Home.

7800+ MIA Korean War - do you know where YOUR uncle /father /brother /sister /mother /cousin died? Did they come home?

I will post updates here as I complete lists and as I mail them.

Laurie A.E. O'Meara
Massachusetts