John Mottishaw

One of the major figures in the fountain pen revival that began in the United States in the 1980’s, John Mottishaw brings four decades of experience to his work as a master nib specialist. Having pioneered many of the nib customizations he performs, and having refined techniques and processes for many more, John maintains a reputation for bringing the finest in quality and craftsmanship to all the work he does.

Background In The Arts and Education

The skill and inventiveness John Mottishaw brings to his nib work has its grounding in his training and experience as an artist and metal sculptor. Born in the Pacific Northwest, John grew up in British Columbia and Washington State and studied architecture at the University of Washington in Seattle. He went on to study painting, sculpture, and filmmaking at Antioch College in Ohio, where met his wife, noted painter Barrie Mottishaw.

After receiving their degrees in Fine Arts at Antioch, John and Barrie lived in British Columbia before returning to Barrie’s home town of Los Angeles to raise their daughter Petra, now a veterinarian in Northern California. John went on to study under visionary artist Roland Reiss at the Claremont Graduate School, where he received his Master of Fine Arts degree.

John’s bronze and wood sculptures and paintings were shown at numerous galleries throughout the west coast, including the prestigious Koplin Gallery in Los Angeles. He also began a career as an educator, teaching classes in design, drawing, and figure sculpture at Occidental, Pomona, and Scripp Colleges, as well as at the Otis Arts Institute.

Reviving Nib Repair and Customization

John Mottishaw’s career took a decisive turn when he and Barrie started attending meetings of the recently-formed Pen Collectors of America. John discovered that the metal-working skills he had developed in his career as a sculptor served as a superb basis for work on the repair and restoration of fountain pen nibs.

At a time when fountain pen repair services of any kind were hard to find, and nib repair services virtually nonexistent, John’s nib work soon found a receptive customer base in the local pen community and beyond. Moving beyond repair work, John began reviving the lost art of fountain pen nib customization, providing custom nib services to artists, calligraphers, and just anybody in search of a more distinctive and expressive writing style.

John revived classic customizations such as Stub, Italic, and Oblique cuts, while also developing new customizations of his own. John’s Architects Point customization, inspired by the writing style of Frank Lloyd Wright, has proven an extremely popular modification that also serves as a superb tool for writing Arabic and Hebrew script as well as Japanese calligraphy.

Equally popular has been John’s Super-Fine Super-Flex customization, which is particularly well-suited to sketching and to copperplate calligraphy. The fame of this customization has spread well beyond the fountain pen world – a video produced by one of John’s customers went on to go viral on YouTube and as of this writing has now received over fourteen million views worldwide!

A Growing Pen Community

John Mottishaw’s expertise in nib work coincided with and undoubtedly helped contribute to the growing revival of interest in fountain pens that began in the United States in the 1980’s. In the early 1990’s, John expanded his role in the community by founding his own company.

In his new venture, John continued to offer his own nib services while also becoming a retailer of both new and pre-owned fountain pens. At a time when fountain pen sales in the U.S. were limited to a declining number of bricks and mortar retailers, John innovated in online sales and service and made his company’s website an authoritative source for information on fountain pen usage and history.

John played a key role in introducing many European and Japanese brands to fountain pen enthusiasts in North America and beyond. The now legendary Italian manufacturer OMAS was a particular focus, and John’s company ended up serving as both an authorized retailer and as the North American service center for this brand before the original OMAS company dissolved in 2016.

Equally significant was John’s work in popularizing Japanese brands such as Pilot, Sailor, and especially Nakaya. John’s company became the exclusive retailer for Nakaya’s hand-turned urushi ebonite pens throughout the English-speaking world. John has been a frequent guest in Tokyo of Nakaya and Platinum Pens president Toshiya Nakata, the third generation leader of these family-owned businesses.

Still Dedicated To The Craft

After selling his original company in 2021, John stepped back from the world of fountain pens for a time. He never lost his love for nib work, however, leading to his involvement with PacificPenWorks.com.

“There is something about the way a well-designed fountain pen combines form and function that always draws me,” explains John. “It’s an added pleasure to be able to tune and customize the nibs, to provide users with an experience they can’t find with any other kind of writing instrument.”

This dedication to craft and to the needs of the end user exemplifies why John Mottishaw remains such a well-known and revered name in in the fountain pen community.

If you have questions about which of John’s customizations would be right for you, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@pacificpenworks.com. We’ll be happy to guide you through the process of finding the perfect pen, nib, and customization combination for your needs…