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Quite simply – I love the violin. At home I am surrounded by them – those I am making, restoring or just those I own. Ever since school I have enjoyed working with wood and think it the most beautiful of materials to work with. Eventually I saw the possibility of combining the two passions, and I started making my first instrument over 20 years ago, but didn’t finish it - because I only had about 3 tools! I returned to making several years later and this making has continued on and off ever since.

I started making violins using only traditional woods - European spruce and maple, and stayed with these woods for many years. However, in the last 6 years or so, I have been using a much wider range of woods.
My love of beautiful woods led me to want to use many alternate woods - to make violins that look, as well as sound, beautiful.

My violins are made entirely by hand, each instrument taking approximately 200 hours to complete, and I uses a number of traditional finishing materials and oil varnishes to bring out the beauty of the woods used.

However, when experimenting with new woods I always ensure that their densities and acoustic properties make them suitable for violin making. The woods I have used in recent years have included - American figured and quilted maple, redwood, mahogany, elm, cherry and a range of Australian woods - King Billy pine, blackwood, myrtle and tiger myrtle.

What’s in a Name?
My instruments conform to the traditional dimensions for full size violins, and I would be happy for them to be called either violins or fiddles as they are one and the same instrument. The perceived difference between a fiddle and a violin is related to the player and the style of music being played.