Following on from my recent post on pencil extenders and how I use a pencil down to its last 2-3 cms, the guys in the office here have asked what I intend to do with the remnants apart from recycle them? At present they are simply stuck on top of my monitor to resemble a miniature city skyline which I admit is not very imaginative. Then I found this article about Dalton Ghetti , a carpenter from Connecticut, who crafts sculptures on the top of pencil leads and was blown away.
Spending several months and occasionally up to two and a half years on each piece and using three basic tools, a razor blade, sewing needle and sculpting knife, Dalton creates some stunning pieces. These include Elvis, letters, linking chains and even an entire church and all without the aid of a magnifying glass.
He has never sold any of his pieces preferring to give them away to friends and yes, like all pencils do, they sometimes break in the middle of a creation. He has approximately 100 broken sculptures in a box.
He is currently working to produce a teardrop for each of the victims of 9/11 that when completed will form a giant teardrop. Each one takes an hour to produce and it will be another 2-3 years before the project ends. Take a look at these stunning images of his work and let me know what you think.
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These are amazing – I can hardly believe that all that detail is in one tiny lead of a pencil. I can’t imagine having the patience and skill to carve one of these. Even though the artist just uses pencils that he finds or that are given to him, I wonder if some kinds of pencils would be better suited to carving than others?
Hi Heather
They truly are incredible Bob wrote the post and like you I was amazed at the detail when he showed it to me. As for some pencils being more suited than others for carving, I will ask Bob when he is back in as he knows a lot more about pencils than me.