Actually David Wright who lives on the planet right now in Minneapolis and is a member of the Minneapolis Orchestra is pictured here playing a new viola of mine called Merlin. While David is a fine violinist/violist, there is no doubt in my mind that he is also something of a wizard. Merlin, the viola, is a 16" instrument which David latched on to in preference to the other violas I had him try out. David played on Merlin this summer when the viola was only a couple of months old. And I must say, that the instrument had a clarity of sound and quickness of response which sounded magical to my ears... or maybe it was just the Merlin in David playing tricks on me.
The first photo is my Cherie, a frequent visitor. Next is the matriarch, Beth, with her children. Cherie is second in line. The three does in this photo are now up in the mountains with their new fawns. They will bring them into the yard when the moms have taught them a few "street" smarts.
The new(on the left) Titus sits next to the old top which was cracked along the soundpost and bassbar, two cracks which would have devastated the value if not the tone had the old top just been repaired. This job took about 3 months.
Yesterday I started the first blog of my life at age 63. Today I erased it by accident and am starting over with a photo of the result of another accident involving Titus, the viola whose top was smashed in transit three months ago. Violin makers have many hurdles to over come. The risks involved in modern shipping are just a few.
