/* Pened-specific additions */ .pened-opening{ font-family:'Cormorant Garamond',Georgia,serif; font-size:clamp(1.2rem,2.4vw,1.5rem); font-weight:300;font-style:italic;line-height:1.75; color:rgba(20,50,40,0.88);margin-bottom:2.5rem; } .pened-opening::first-letter{ font-size:3.2em;float:left;line-height:0.72; margin:0.1em 0.08em 0 0; color:#2d5a4e;font-style:italic;font-weight:300; } .cycle{margin:3rem 0;display:flex;flex-direction:column;gap:0;} .cycle-act{ display:grid;grid-template-columns:2rem 1fr; gap:0 1.2rem;padding:1.4rem 0; border-top:1px solid rgba(45,90,78,0.15); align-items:start; } .cycle-act:last-child{border-bottom:1px solid rgba(45,90,78,0.15)} .cycle-num{ font-family:'Cormorant Garamond',Georgia,serif; font-style:italic;font-size:1.3rem;font-weight:300; color:rgba(45,90,78,0.4);padding-top:0.1rem; } .cycle-title{ display:block;font-family:'Cormorant Garamond',Georgia,serif; font-style:italic;font-weight:400;font-size:1.05rem; color:rgba(20,50,40,0.88);margin-bottom:0.3rem; } .cycle-desc{ font-family:'DM Sans',sans-serif;font-size:9px; letter-spacing:0.12em;color:rgba(45,90,78,0.6);line-height:1.7; } .pened-body{ font-family:'Cormorant Garamond',Georgia,serif; font-size:clamp(1rem,1.8vw,1.1rem); font-weight:300;line-height:1.95; } .pened-body p{margin-bottom:1.6em} .invitation-section{ margin-top:3.5rem;padding-top:2.5rem; border-top:1px solid rgba(45,90,78,0.18); } .inv-label{ display:block;font-family:'DM Sans',sans-serif;font-size:8px; letter-spacing:0.26em;text-transform:uppercase; color:#2d5a4e;margin-bottom:1.8rem; } .inv-intro{ font-family:'Cormorant Garamond',Georgia,serif; font-size:clamp(1rem,1.8vw,1.1rem); font-weight:300;line-height:1.85; color:rgba(25,55,45,0.7);margin-bottom:2rem; } .form-row{margin-bottom:1.4rem} .form-label{ display:block;font-family:'DM Sans',sans-serif;font-size:8px; letter-spacing:0.2em;text-transform:uppercase; color:rgba(45,90,78,0.6);margin-bottom:0.5rem; } .form-input,.form-textarea{ width:100%; background:rgba(237,229,218,0.5); border:none;border-bottom:1px solid rgba(45,90,78,0.25); padding:0.6rem 0; font-family:'Cormorant Garamond',Georgia,serif; font-size:1rem;font-weight:300; color:rgba(20,50,40,0.88); outline:none;transition:border-color 0.3s ease; cursor:text;border-radius:0;-webkit-appearance:none; } .form-input:focus,.form-textarea:focus{border-bottom-color:#2d5a4e} .form-textarea{resize:none;height:5rem;line-height:1.7;} .form-note{ font-family:'DM Sans',sans-serif;font-size:8px; letter-spacing:0.12em;color:rgba(45,90,78,0.4); margin-top:0.5rem;font-style:italic; } .form-submit{ display:inline-block;margin-top:2rem; font-family:'DM Sans',sans-serif;font-size:9px; letter-spacing:0.24em;text-transform:uppercase; color:rgba(45,90,78,0.6); border:1px solid rgba(45,90,78,0.25); padding:0.75rem 2.2rem;cursor:none; background:transparent; transition:color 0.3s,border-color 0.3s,background 0.3s; -webkit-appearance:none; } .form-submit:hover{ color:rgba(20,50,40,0.95); border-color:#2d5a4e; background:rgba(45,90,78,0.06); } .form-confirm{ display:none;padding:1.6rem 0; font-family:'Cormorant Garamond',Georgia,serif; font-style:italic;font-size:1.05rem; color:rgba(25,55,45,0.75);line-height:1.8; } .pened-terms{ margin-top:3rem;padding-top:2rem; border-top:1px solid rgba(45,90,78,0.12); font-family:'DM Sans',sans-serif;font-size:8px; letter-spacing:0.12em;line-height:1.9; color:rgba(45,90,78,0.38); }

Baptism Traveller · Venice–Florence

Lucid Dreams Home · Ironbridge

Movement Academia · Liverpool

Events The Bakery · Liverpool · March 2026

Venetian Baptism

Venetian Baptism

Dawn Song

Dawn Song

Shadow Self

Shadow Self

Capture

Capture

Morphosis

Morphosis

Changing States

Changing States

Lucid Dreams

Lucid Dreams

Maelstrom

Maelstrom

Pique Returns

Pique Returns

The Movement Project — The Bakery, Liverpool, 23–24 March 2026

click the mirror to return

An exchange · A collective · A book

Pened

Welsh · pen — the writing instrument. The headland where land meets water.

The exchange

Every painting is a conversation that doesn't know yet who it's talking to. Pened is the structure that lets the other voice reply — under an alias, on a card, held in trust.

It begins at the event. A painting is on a wall. A stranger stands in front of it and something opens — a memory, a question, a recognition they weren't expecting. That moment is the one Pened is interested in. Not the opinion formed later. The thing that happened in the room.

Dan curates who enters the exchange. A Wonka ticket arrives — physical, posted, specific to the conversation the artist noticed at the opening. The recipient realises the exchange they thought was casual is one the artist wants to continue. They have been invited to become a pen pal.

"Each pal holds the other's journal. Trust is in the bond that each holds the other's truth."

i

The ticket arrives A curated invitation, posted. A tear sheet of the work enclosed. An alias to write under. A blank journal page to return.

ii

The journal entry returns The recipient writes — not a review, not an appreciation. Whatever the work opened. It goes back to Dan under the alias. He holds it.

iii

The exchange completes Dan sends back a signed print of the piece the entry responded to — proof of the exchange — plus the next work in the series. The cycle continues.

iv

The book With permission, the aliases and their entries become Pened — a published collection. The work is defined only through these anonymous stories.

Register your interest

This is not a purchase. It is an expression of willingness to enter the exchange. Dan will be in touch with those he invites into the first cycle.

Your interest has been recorded under your alias. Dan reads every entry. If the exchange is meant to continue, the ticket will find you.

Pened is a curated exchange. Participation is by invitation. All journal entries are held in confidence unless explicit permission to publish is given by the author. The alias is the author — no real names appear in the book. This is the bond.