SusieG Studio

I first encountered Zodiac Pen Company on the last day of the local pen show I attended back in 2024. One of Bart’s pens caught my eye. I made a note to myself to add him to my wishlist for next year’s show.

For several months in 2025 I kept coming across a beautiful pen model called Cancer on social media. It was the shape and curves of the pen that caught my eye. This pen model really showed off the stunning qualities of the blank’s material they were made from. I could also tell that Bart had an eye for picking the right blanks for this Cancer model. My gut feeling told me to be on the look out and see if I could get one in my hands. Oh and my pen friends know that I gravitate towards fountain pens that have a clip and this model had one.

Pen #1

Last year, I attended the pen show and I was happy to see that Zodiac Pen Company was back as an exhibitor. On the first day of the pen show I was able to snag this sparkling beauty.

This pen has become one of my faves and it spends most of the time being currently inked on my studio desk. I’m one of those pen folks who enjoys matching the color(s) of my pen with the inks I have in my stash. This colorful Brooks’ PM5 pretty much goes with my favorite inks especially the shimmering ones.

I also enjoy swapping around my JoWo #6 nib units into this pen and that includes the Franklin-Christoph cursive italic nibs or an engraved nib from Pen Realm.

Pen #2

I’ve already blogged about my recent addition from this year’s pen show. Another Cancer model in Carson Thirty or also known as Atlantis Streetlamp. This pen is gorgeous especially with the satin finish. The colors appear to be more dramatic and intense with this finish. Make a note that pens don’t need to be highly polished to be beautiful. Here’s the proof:

I do want to show there is a pen clip on the Cancer models. This one is a gold clip which matches the pen perfectly.

From my “pen show haul” blog post I had mentioned I had two Cancer models sitting in my hands while I was at Bart’s table. I kept twirling them in my hands. I ended up putting one back in his tray. Then I picked it back up again. Same pen model, but two completely different swirls of colors and pen personalities. One dark and the other one bright. I put the bright one back down in the tray and my gut feeling told me to purchase the first pen I reached for. The dark one that first caught my attention. That unique pen with the satin finish. The one pen that stayed in my hand while I was chatting with Bart. You know what I’m talking about.

I had purchased the pen and it made sense to fill it with ink I had purchased from Lauren of Lucky Star Pen. I received immediate gratification from writing and creating a quick sketch.

After a few days, I wanted to get closer to a matching pen and ink combination. I thought Morning Shine would be a good turquoise match, but I kept flipping through my ink swatch cards thinking there was something else. I found another color that screamed louder and would be more useful for my journaling and sketching. Another favorite shimmering ink from Robert Oster called Water.

While RO Water is not a perfect match, this lovely soft turquoise leaning green shimmering ink does have quite a bit of depth.

While I was enjoying my new pen, I still had this “feeling” that I could not really shake.

Pen #3

Less than a week after the pen show, I kept thinking about that second pen that was in my hand. The bright colors in that pen reminded me of a bouquet of Spring flowers. I was going to take pictures of Bart’s table, but I was so busy chatting with Bart and looking at his pens that I completely forgot. I had to rely on my memory.

I try not to bother pen folks after a huge pen show as most of them are in recovery mode from spending a couple of intense days at the show and traveling. Bart was kind enough to answer my messages. He confirmed he still had the bright and colorful pen.

I’m now the proud owner of a third Cancer model in Azalea.

I already had two inks in mind, but I had to have the pen in hand to finalize my inky choice.

I think both would work well in this pen.

My gut feeling told me to go with my favorite Blood Rose.

It’s interesting to see when my swatch cards are placed next to my pen which colors appear more vibrant.

Here’s my trio of Zodiac pens and their unique personalities.

When I’m caught in a thought or pondering over something, I have one of these pens in my hand. Call me crazy for having three of these, but they feel great in my hand. Just look at the swirls of colors in each pen.

Zodiac Nibs

Sometime between last year and this year, Bart has added an engraved logo to his JoWo nibs. The engraved Gemini logo is in purple which ties in nicely with the color of his updated business card and his RickShaw pen sleeve.

The steel nib is a Medium nib. The two gold plated nibs are Fine nibs. All of his nibs have a smooth writing experience and tend to be wet writers.

Summary

I want to spend a few minutes to share my thoughts about Zodiac’s Cancer model.

The Cancer model has an interesting curved shape in both the cap and the body. It looks like a girthy pen. Like a cigar shape with some lovely curves. I’ve mentioned before that this Cancer model is very comfortable to hold in my hand while writing.

The widest part of the pen’s body rests nicely in my hand. I feel no tension while holding and writing with my pen. I feel I write with a lighter hand.

You already know that I love this pen’s shape and I believe the shape has more surface area to show off the blank material. This produces a bit more depth and the swirls of colors are more prominent.

I remembered at Bart’s table I held a different pen model in my hand and I wasn’t getting the same “wow” factor. It could just be me, but I really do think there’s something special about his Cancer model and the beautiful resins that this model shows off really well. As I mentioned before, Bart has a really good eye for choosing the pen blank.

I’d be interested to hear about your pen experiences with Zodiac pens or other pen makers. Let me know if the pen shapes make a difference in your purchase. I enjoy reading your comments and feedback.

I blogged about my first pen purchase with Zodiac Pen Co. Here is the link that includes additional pictures including a pen & ink wash sketch of my pen.

Here’s the link to see what Zodiac pens are available and what has sold. This gives an idea of the pen models Bart has and the different pen blanks he uses.

If you want to see Tim’s amazing pen blanks and pens here’s the link to Turnt Pen Co.

Pen #1: Cancer model in Primary Manipulation 5 (Jonathon Brooks-Carolina Pen Co) with Medium nib.

Pen #2: Cancer model in Carson Thirty/Atlantis Streetlamp (Tim Crowe-Turnt Pen Co) with Fine nib

Pen #3: Cancer model in Azalea (Tim Crowe-Turnt Pen Co) with Fine nib