Musical Modifications

Back in 2004 I was asked by an uncle if I could help out for a day on a carpentry gig he was doing for a school in St Albans Hertfordshire……

With nothing better else to do I tagged along for a day of fitting out a school computer room and a promised lunch of home cooked seafood, salad, cheese, bread and wine (there’s no half stepping with my uncle when it comes to food at work!). It was while taking some scrap timber to a skip in the school car park I happened across 3 very old violins in varying states of distress.

As per usual my magpie instincts took ahold and a couple of seconds later I had them stowed safely in the back of my uncles Volvo estate…job done!!  They were by no means the kin of the Stradivarious family (I did check) but they had a rustic charm due to their age and the general wear and tear through being handled by children. One month later I decided to sand the varnish off  the smallest of them. The designs were then drawn and cut into stencils ready to be sprayed with black spraypaint (you get a nice effect with this almost like the design was burnt into the wood). All the highlighted areas were scratched into the wood using a scalpel. The water effect at the bottom of the body is a cut of lace used as a stencil with further scraping of the wood for the white water up top.  I did plan on using the other two violins, but sadly lost them over time from moving home and belongings once too often that year…oh the irony..lost property found and lost once again!

click thumbnail for full image of violin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can find other ‘ lost property exhibits ‘ in the lost property dept link at the top of this page.