The Luthier

I play guitar.
It has been a passion and an escape for fifteen years and I could not imagine my life without rosewood, mahogany, cedar and spruce.

I think of guitars, especially my guitars, as works of art. Each piece begins as an aged tree that has watched the world shrink as its trunk has widened then bowed in humility as the cycle of our lives has run its course. Like us the tree peaks and falls. For many creatures, and much of creation, this is the end, but for the tree this is only the commencement of a great calling. This is the point when the luthier (guitar maker) seeks out the purest and highest quality wood to build his instruments. The artisan proceeds to cut out all of the rot and all of the decay to procure and salvage the best that the fallen tree has to offer. He begins with chainsaws and axes and ends with diamond-tipped saw blades and ultra-fine sand paper. He treats the wood as if it were never rotten or decayed. He treats it as if it were his prize.

Then he does something quite incredible.

He gives the wood a voice and makes it sing. He gives it new life. He makes the tree beautiful again. He becomes an artist.