J. Herbin Vert Atlantide

A new colour from J. Herbin! J. Herbin Vert Atlantide. Joining the sparkly line of Jacques Herbin, this is a green green, with both silver and green shimmer.

The colour is, of course, inspired by the dream realms of Atlantis, with both gold and silver shimmer as part of its magic and mystic. Whether or not Atlantis is a personal and meaningful connection for you, the actual ink itself is quite lovely.

I was a bit unprepared for the ink coming, so it was a delight to have a new ink to fill a pen with. I used my Parker Sonnet, a favourite of mine, which has a very wet medium nib, and the paper is Tomoe River from a Hobonichi.

I always get a lot of comments and questions about whether or not it’ll really look like that, or how much shimmer can one really expect. It’s always hard to say, which I know is an unsatisfying answer. I find greens and greenish-blues a bit tricky to photography (turquoise is the worst!). Shimmer especially is always unpredictable. My advice is to always keep your heart open for a surprise, which, unsurprisingly, is also not very satisfying.

I generally recommend people get samples because it’s so hard to communicate that this red is the exactly dark blood red that you’re looking for, or to count on both of us having the exact same definitions of the peacock blue from your childhood. For shimmer inks, samples are still helpful, but a little more of a gamble when it comes to how much shimmer you’re going to get. When we make the samples, we do try to agitate the bottle as often as we can, but the shimmer settles quickly, and it’s hard to guarantee the same amount of shimmer in each 2 mL sample vial. In fact, it’s hard to even be super consistent with filling your pen, as shimmer will settle as you’re twisting up your piston.

My best hope is just that these photos will give you an idea about the ink, and its colour. I do really like it myself. It’s sort of a lighter Sailor Miruai, which is an ink that I like a lot, although of course Miruai doesn’t have the shimmer.

J. Herbin shimmer inks do tend to be pretty shimmery. I haven’t had too much problem with clogging, although even after several rinses, I still find a bit of shimmer coming out in the next few fills, from the feed, which I don’t mind. It’s like nostalgia, just something sparkly to remind you what came in the past. If you’re fastidious you can always put these shimmer inks into pens that you can easily disassemble so you can take a toothbrush to the feed, to get all of the sparkle out.

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In any case, time marches on. It’s felt nice to get back, clawing and moaning, into some semblance of a routine, school drop offs, packing lunches, what the days and weekends are going to look like, although of course things change quickly. Our local school board is in the throes of reorganization as they try and set up teachers for both virtual and in-class learning, teachers and administrators and classrooms moving, as numbers change from day to day. We’re keeping our fingers crossed Caleb will remain where he is.

We are tossing a coin between sunny and balmy fall days and impending winter gloom. Already I am dreading sorting through the bins of outdoor gear, matching mittens that are close enough and discovering snow pants that are too small. I’m laying the blame of it not yet getting done firmly at the feet of Jon’s procrastination in bringing the bins up from the basement. Lots of moving pieces in this family.

I had a harrowing experience at the library, where I forgot my library card, and had to check out with a librarian, who insisted on reviewing all of my overdue books with me. I insisted I lived across the street and promised to return them shortly, but she said they’re not charging late fines so they need to make sure delinquents like me aren’t fooling around with the materials. Where is Music for Mister Moon, Elizabeth?? Nevertheless, I forge on, skulking around the perimeters, hiding behind shelves.

And so life, apparently, staggers back to its seasons. Weekly newsletters that mostly go out on Tuesdays, Thanksgiving around the corner, Naomi’s birthday with it, which couldn’t come soon enough. We’ve recently had a slew of birthdays that weren’t hers, and she’s been distraught that she hasn’t had one, distressed that she might not have one at all, ever. Ah, the unwieldiness of priorities in life.