I love the artistic creativity of working with my hands. I created multiple artistic pieces during my career as a chef and culinary arts instructor. Since art created with food is quickly consumed, it left little lasting evidence of my work. I was looking for something that my grandchildren could hold and use.

Thirty five years ago my wife’s grandfather gave me his mother’s old fiddle. I wanted to learn to play it so I took it to a luthier’s shop for repair and was enthralled with all instruments in the shop in their various stages of repair or restoration.

That Christmas my wife got me a violin kit. Putting together the violin was so much fun that I bought some wood and tools and made a violin from scratch. About that time the director of the Chippewa Hills School Orchestra heard that I was doing this and started shipping me her instruments for repair and set up. By attending several workshops, as well as studying books and videos, I learned how to do the stringed instrument repairs to help keep the orchestra running. Because of this opportunity, I developed a real passion for doing repair, restoration work and for bringing the old and the damaged stringed instruments back to life. I continue to love this work more than thirty years later.