Think Global, Act Local
Pencils for Africa was launched with the intention to promote a unique human connection as a means to foster creativity and literacy throughout Africa. We have our PO Box set up in Northern California, and as students are cleaning out their desks and lockers at …
Read More
Making Pencils
Written by Karim Ariane Prin graduated in 2011 with a Masters from Royal College of Art (RCA), London. Also in 2011, she was shortlisted for the RCA’s Sustain Award for her “From Here For Here” projects. She has won or been a finalist in numerous design …
Read More
The Pencil Maker
The African dawn was now ripe and about to fall open as the pencil maker took his early morning walk amongst the acacia trees in the arid savannah. He was searching, as he did every morning, for the most elegant twigs with which to craft …
Read MorePencil Drawing
by Karim World Drawing Day (WDD) was this Saturday, June 2nd, 2012 A few days before WDD, I received this email from Allan Schwarz, founder of Mezimbite Forest Centre: Did you know that the 2nd of June is World Drawing Day ? How are we going …
Read MoreThe African Pencil Tree
Written by Karim The Pencils for Africa Mascot I would like to introduce you to a new friend of ours here at the Mezimbite Magazine: Juniperus procera - The African Pencil Tree. You will be hearing a lot more about this tree on this new site called “Pencils for …
Read MoreSimplified Pencils
Simplify, Simplify. In his article entitled The Pencil, Karim includes this quote from pencil-maker Henry David Thoreau: “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” — Henry David …
Read More
The Pencil Gift
Interview of artist Dalton Ghetti by Karim (photos by Sloan Howard) Forward by Olivia Ramsay “The pencil is a gift and a precious resource,” says pencil artist Dalton Ghetti. This is the type of thinking that sparked the mission of Pencils for Africa, where we gather …
Read MoreThe Pencil Tree
Once upon a borrowed time in the quiet Kandhava Forest by the Yamuna River, there lived a tree who was known by all the other trees as The Pencil Tree. Now – this was a borrowed time, a time borrowed well before History began. This was even before …
Read MorePencils for Africa
Mez Mag Editor’s Note In the previous article it was noted that conservationists were becoming concerned about the impact of pencil manufacture upon forest conservation. An analysis of this forest impact had been conducted by Pencils.com. I asked one of our contributing editors, palaeoecologist Dr. Elinor Breman, if she could …
Read MoreThe Pencil
The Mezimbite Forest Centre artisans have much in common with the journeymen, carpenters and cabinet makers that pioneered the modern lead pencil. The pencil, with its simplicity and elegance of design, took centuries to refine. It was rarely a luxury, it was mostly a necessity. …
Read More
