LOTI Pencil welcomes back artisanal pencil sharpener

The Lake of the Isles Pencil is celebrating its fifth birthday on June 6, 2026 and has invited a professional back to the party. 

Artisanal pencil sharpener and author of “How to Sharpen Pencils: A Practical & Theoretical Treatise on the Artisanal Craft of Pencil Sharpening for Writers, Artists, Contractors, Flange Turners, Anglesmiths, & Civil Servants,” David Rees, is coming back to Minneapolis. 

Rees participated in the first two parties in 2022 and 2023. 

“I love the spirit of the Lake of the Isles pencil and the community that's built up around it,” Rees said in an interview with Southwest Voices. 

Rees wrote his pencil sharpening book in 2012 but said it’s nice to revisit the speciality through the Minneapolis sculpture made out of a tree by Curtis Ingvoldstad. 

“It is a large-scale celebration of pencils, so I have a vested interest in that. It’s fun to dip back into the pencil world for these events,” Rees said. 

Rees originally became fascinated with pencil sharpening when he worked for the U.S. Census. 

“On the first day of training, they had us just sharpen pencils,” Rees said. 

As he stood over the trash can with his fellow workers, holding single blade sharpeners, he wondered if there was a way to make money sharpening pencils. 

Rees invested in a higher-quality sharpener than the U.S. Census provided. Once word got out about his book and sharpening skills, Rees had to hire an assistant to handle the demand of people wanting an artisanally sharpened pencil. 

“I raised the price to $100 per pencil, just to lower the demand,” Rees said. The original price was $15. 

Rees taught children about the art of sharpening pencils at the 2023 Lake of the Isles pencil party. He had other bits, too, that are now lost to the popularity of the event. 

“I would invite all the kids up onto the lawn, and they would vote on what type of point to put on the pencil,” Rees said. “John (Higgins), the host, said, ‘We don't encourage that anymore, because there's so many people, the kids get lost if they're separated from their parents.’”

Curtis Ingvoldstad and David Rees stand on scaffolding as people wait for the 2023 annual pencil sharpening.

Melody Hoffmann

Rees, travelling in from Los Angeles, said he is intrigued to participate in the pencil’s fifth birthday after such a tough winter for Minneapolis. 

“I don't know if people will make some sort of connection between this public-spirited friendly public event, that is a true spectacle in opposition to the really dark and horrifying spectacles that everyone across the world saw from the Twin Cities in the last year,” Rees said. 

“I don't know if people will be looking for some type of symbolic connection between a pencil reaching up to the sky versus citizens being slammed to the Earth, or if they'll just be happy to have fun.” 

Rees is also the author of “Get Your War On,” a comic series he wrote during the George W. Bush administration that was critical of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. His artisanal pencil sharpening content is also available online. 

The annual Lake of the Isles Pencil party is on June 6, 2026 from 1-2:30 p.m. Due to the popularity of the event, driving is heavily discouraged. Riding a bike, taking mass transit, and walking is highly encouraged.