The iron oxide red – Falu Red – is ever present here. Made of a combination of copper and a by product from iron to get the special red calcimine paint with matte finish.

Since the red cottages are so common in the country side it is  easy to become blind to the colour – the warm, matte, deep red. Even if it is matte it has a special lustre when one looks close and it enhances the natural beauty of the wood and thus wooden surfaces painted with this feels very alive and organic.

It wasn’t until I got J Herbins anniversary ink 1670 that I really began to see the iron oxide red as something more than the common red-countryside-cottage-with-white-trims-concept.

Thus, I saw and began to take photos of rust, painted surfaces, some more rust and was happy that I finally realized how beautiful this red is – especially when one gets close to it. When close one feels a faint, metallic scent of (at least if it wasn’t a very long time since it was painted) which reminds me of childhood summers with scratched knees, mosquito-bites, shrieking swallows and pale summer evenings. It is special to find beauty in something ordinary that one has seen all life without really seeing it – like finding a hidden treasure; even though it has been in the open all the time.

So, I’ve been obsessed with this red the past months. The Herbin 1670 actually have that same lustre – very hard to explain what it is, but like small, discreet sparks of lustre within the matte – making the colour deep and alive and a joy to write with.

I thus got very happy when I got the nice little ring top above – patterned in black and deep, warm red swirls that makes a perfect match to the Herbin 1670.

This is one of the few inks that I really enjoy see on the upper side of the nib -and  it suits this handsome (left foot oblique) particularly well.