Susanna Prince, who is kind enough to let me share her studio space, has agreed to make a set of sterling silver dog tags for each new violin. The tags can be worn by the owner or left on the violin. One of the tags has the violin's own name and the other is the family name, violinisto.

Home from the mean streets of New York City after three days of hotels, airplanes and a media feeding frenzy. Everything went well, no unpleasant surprises to deal with. Now back to violins and music.

Amelia is the first Strad model I've done. Varnish is nearly done and she should be set up very soon.

Little Ann is back to her energetic self after a few days on the couch. You can see her favorite teddy bear under her chin. This bear, which she found sitting under a tree on Greenwood Avenue, has unfortunately lost both arms in the excitement of play. We have the arms, they just won't go back on anymore.

For the past ten or more years, I have played old time music on an acoustic fiddle while in my head I hear drums and bass playing along. One day recently, this Steinberger electric five string became available and now lives with me. This winter, I think, we may try out the fusion of rural Appalachian music and rock and roll.

Seen here relaxing on the couch listening to 'Where the Red Fern Grows' on tape, Red Dog underwent surgery to remove a fractured molar and a cyst on her eyelid.  This has brought production at Violinisto to a near standstill. We hope to be back to making shavings very soon.

Rosalie is taken from the Del Gesu violin "The D'Egville". The sound is full size but the physical dimensions are better suited for small hands. Shown here with the first few coats of varnish applied.