I'm deep into my second grant project from the Vermont Arts Council, designing the entire mandolin family, and am finally getting the word out. I've combined my grant with a residency at the Firehouse Art Center in downtown Burlington, Vt. Here's a full project description via the Mandolin Cafe.

Many thanks to the staff at the Firehouse who have been so helpful with this process. The 4th floor studio where I'm doing my work is incredible--light and spacious with views of Burlington and Lake Champlain. I've been able to customize the space perfectly to my needs and have enjoyed the explosion of ideas that comes with the freedom to create. For more information, and a downloadable press release visit Burlington City Arts.

I'll post a couple of early photos here, from my first week, to give a sense of the room (about 25' square with high open-beam ceiling), and will post more soon.

Currently I'm in the 3rd phase of the project. First I studied Francois Denis' treatise on violin geometry, learning the methods and theory of proportional design, and drawing all of the models of violin, viola and cello he presents.

Next, I worked on my own Due pattern, analyzing it for proportional relationships (discovering, to my delight, many) and using this analysis to create a geometric method for drawing the two-point mandolin. Now I'm working on scaling this drawing up to mandocello size and changing it to fit both the aesthetics and acoustics of this specialized instrument. I've realized now, that each of the models will have it's own challenges of both design and acoustics, but I'm loving the process. I'm still collecting data on some of the other models and will begin drawing the octave mando, mandola, and piccolo mandolin next week.  When the project is complete, I will have made drawings, patterns, molds and counterforms for these five instruments.

    In the meantime, I'm making sure to take some time to "just draw" and push my technique for representing instrument forms on paper.  This is an incredible opportunity for me to focus on the graphic aspect of lutherie, and I'm now realizing how valuable this practice will be when I return to my shop to build these instrument.  If you're in the area, please come visit the studio during these open-studio hours:  Saturdays from 12-5pm (except 1/31 and 2/14) and First Friday Art Walk (2/6 from 5-8pm). I'll also have a closing reception at the studio on Friday, February 27th from 5-8pm with live music TBA.