I learned to build violins by studying under the master violin maker Otis A. Tomas of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and to restore and repair these instruments at Minnesota State College Southeast in Red Wing, MN. I have also gleaned much of what I know from a decade and more of studying traditional woodworking and other handcrafts. I play the fiddle, as well, being an admirer and student of blues, ragtime, early jazz, and Irish and Cape Breton music. Violin making is for me an elemental process, a sort of alchemy through which rough blocks of wood are transformed into the refined tools of musical expression. I strive to produce instruments that draw upon the mastery of the original Italian makers, while maintaining a voice unique to their own time and place.