Thursday, March 5, 2009

Custom Fittings

Kong's Kosmo
For many of my instruments I also create fittings that reflect the chosen theme. These pegs and tailpiece are to be used in a violin with the cosmos as its thematic soul. First I inlaid the crystals, then incised the designs. Next I carefully pressed gold leaf into the contours. As a protective coating for the delicate gold leaf, I filled in the remaining design depressions with clear epoxy varnish. This should keep the decoration intact over many years and thousands of tunings.