Boston Bound!

Well, Concord, technically.  I'm attending a week long workshop on violin varnishing.  It's something I've wanted to do for years, but after the VSA convention in the fall I resolved to find a way to make it happen.

fingerprint on one side, name and birthday on the other

I will miss Ian and the kids, but look at this wonderful necklace I get to take with me!

Our school had a fundraiser a few weeks ago, and in the silent auction was the chance to buy a necklace with a silver pendant cast from an impression of a fingerprint.  (Made by Jill Braun at Lillydip if any local friends are interested!)  I had to pay beyond my winning bid to get fingerprint pendants for all my kids done, but it was worth it.  I feel like I have a bit of them with me when I wear it.

The workshop should be interesting.  Varnishing a violin is about half the process of making one.  And in repair terms, varnish is considered sacred.  It impacts not only the look, but the sound and life of an instrument, and you don't tamper with it.  People who aren't aware occasionally come into my shop asking if I will alter the color or texture of original varnish to suit their taste and I have to tell them no.  It's not like a coat of paint that you can do over anytime fashion changes.  It's a signature and a statement and it marks a point in history.

Unfortunately, according to people at the top of my field, my signature needs a good penmanship lesson, which is what the workshop is designed to help me with.

Which is good, because I have not even gotten there and I'm already, um, feeling like I'm at the back of the class.  I'm nervous about a couple of things.  First of all, I figured out last night I screwed up the first assignment.