Extraordinary Pencil Sculptures

I love it when creative forms of art make you do a double take, like those times when you see something only to realize a moment later that what you saw was something different.

Jennifer Maestre’s pencil art sculptures are mind twisting like this. She draws her inspiration from the sea urchin, a creature that is dangerous to touch, but so beautiful and with such an incredible tempting texture, most cannot resist touching, and then suffering the consequences. This image, combined with simple pencil, is where her magic begins.

She uses hundreds of pencils that she cuts into 1 inch sections, then drills a hole into each one to create a bead, then sews them together to create her masterpieces.

When I was learning about art as a child, I had a teacher that once said, “In art, there is no such thing as a mistake, only happy accidents.” On Jennifer’s website, http://www.jennifermaestre.com, she writes about how she sometimes begins, then makes a mistake, which turns out not to be a mistake at all because it sends her mind flying in a different direction. I love that!

Jennifer finds pencils so inspiring that even though her studio is filled with them, she often jokes that she can’t ever find anything to write with. She is an example of a woman that has the kind of creativity and imagination we love. Thank you Jennifer for being an inspiration!

When I look at this art, the ultimate question that comes to my mind is: If something is so intoxicating, so beautiful, and so enchanting, is it worth touching even if there are painful consequences? The answer, which came to me after mulling this for a few days, is yes, it is.