The idea of "Cellular Fiddles" has evolved out of two earlier projects. The Dimpled Viola made a feature of some of the visually interesting rough carving of a violin that normally get lost in the finished instrument. The Turtle Fiddle which took one of the visual...
Turtle Fiddle
This is a follow up to the Dimpled Viola project and develops some of the ideas sparked by that project. With the viola I made an instrument that made a feature of the gouge work that appears in early stages of carving an instrument but that normally gets completely...
The Five String Fiddle Conspiracy
Talking with Master Fiddler Brandon Godman some months ago, he asked me if I’d ever made a five string fiddle. I never had but I was intrigued. There are five string cellos and five string…..
Freestyle violin making and the Cadenza Violin
Searching for the spirit of early craftsmanship. For many years I have been looking for ways to emulate the spirit of the craftsmanship that I see in the work of many of the Classic period violins. There is a liveliness and freshness in these early instruments which I...
Kochanski Del Gesu model violin 2016
My latest rendition of the Ex-Korchanski Guarnieri Del Gesu violin
Guarnieri model Violin 2016
My latest rendition of the Ex-Kochanski Guarnieri Del Gesu violin
One Hundred Violins – Thoughts on productivity, reputation and motivation
I’ve just finished my 100th violin and can’t decide whether that is a lot or a little. You need to make a certain number to work out the kinks and to establish a reputation. Ultimately of course, we are going to value quality over quantity but numbers do say something.