Friday, September 20, 2013

Artisanal Pencil Sharpener Considers Career Change

From Fox New York:

Someone just paid David Rees, of Beacon, N.Y., $35 to sharpen a pencil.

"I think people think: 'Wow, I can't believe he actually did it,'" Rees said. "I wasn't sure what would happen when I sent this guy my money."

Now before you write him off as some con-artist whittling away on pre-packaged No. 2s from a farmhouse upstate you should know Rees is a sharp guy.  He considers himself an artisanal pencil sharpener.

"Internet commenters have definitely made this argument before," Rees said. "Now, a pencil is a completely transparent communication tool. There's no secret to it."

As for his pencils, he began sharpening those after leaving a job as a political cartoonist to work for the 2010 Census, where he spent all day recording his findings with a No. 2 pencil.

"I thought there's got to be a way to get paid to sharpen pencils for people," he said.
1,804 flawlessly sharpened mostly No. 2 pencils later, Rees has penned a book on his art form, collected an arsenal of different sharpeners, and taught classes to students who sharpen better than he does.

"I'm always really simultaneously happy for them and always really intimidated," he said, "like please don't go into business against me. You're going to crush me."

But after two years of collecting pencil shavings with tweezers for his customers, Rees is nearing his breaking point....MORE