Apres-workshop

Wow that was fun. A whole week of working on my latest violin, with Michael Darnton offering far better techniques, tools, and eyes than I have on my own ... I finished the top plate -- bass bar installed, edgework done, f holes refined, I removed the ribs from the mold and cleaned up the inside there, and then got working on my scroll. Actually I got the scroll pretty much done. It was a very productive week. I hope to get this fiddle put together before too long -- I'm in the home stretch!

Pre-workshop

Tomorrow I fly out to Claremont, CA for a week-long violin making workshop with Michael Darnton. I thought I'd take a photo of my latest violin, before spending an uninterrupted week working on it. The big block of wood on the left will become the scroll, and hopefully I'll get a good start on that this week. (My suitcase will be lighter coming home!) Looking forward to hanging out with violin making friends, and also looking forward to escaping this southern heat for a little while...

Fretboard Journal

One of my favorite magazines is 'The Fretboard Journal,' a quarterly publication mostly related to guitars, their builders, and their afficionados. The stories are consistently interesting, the quality of the pictures is excellent, and advertising is largely limited to the back of the mag. And even though I'm completely caught up with violins in my daily work, I love reading about gorgeous stringed instruments of any kind, their luthiers and their various philosophies, collectors, musicians -- it's so much related to what I do.

This latest issue has an interview with musician and collector Marty Stuart, an article about one builder's discovery of the Golden Mean (also central in violin design), a couple of stories about custom-ordered guitars, and enough eye-candy to keep the average instrument lover happy for a long time.

A quote by St. Francis of Assissi is highlighted in a luthier profile:
"He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist."

Another Pic

I had my latest violin back here this week and was able to take some photos, but I'm still not able to do justice to the violin with my current camera set-up. To me, this instrument has a very cool aesthetic, a slightly textured top with interesting colors. This was the first violin I've finished with varnish that I made here in the yard outside my shop, and I feel like it was a big step forward in quality of varnish job. I'm actually happy with the looks of it, which is something I wasn't ready to say on other violins I've varnished. Now I'm eager to finish another instrument so I can try out the varnish again.