Why Now?

Hi and welcome to my website. I have been working at Canada's oldest and foremost violin shop for almost 30 years and in that time I also managed to scratch out a pretty good career as a freelance double bassist. In all that time I have managed quite well balancing work at the shop, teaching, playing music and most importantly, raising a family with my lovely partner.

Six years ago, my career-long fascination with bows finally culminated in making my first bow. It was a cello bow and I am proud to say that is played by a wonderful player and composer here in Toronto.

I have since made several bows inspired by the earlier generation of French masters. One of the advantages of doing restorations at Geo. Heinl and Co. Ltd www.georgeheinl.com is that I have access to bows by the very best throughout history. I also have had the privilege of working with the best restorers of violins and bows in Canada. I was taught bow-making by the great master John Sirdevan. He taught me the French method of making but stressed the importance of learning how to look at the bow.

So the question is why now? Why make website now?

The short answer is that I want to sell my bows.

The long answer is that I wanted to start to connect with people outside of the confines of the shop. To me bow making is a means of expression. That is a form of functional art that gives artists a tool for their expression. It's in this way that symbiosis is formed and what better way to cement that relationship than directly connecting through this medium?

I am willing to ship my bows anywhere in North America. None of my bows use ivory and the Pernambuco I use is old cut (pre-1970) or repurposed. I wanted to create a site that invited players to express what they wanted. So if you have a model of bow you would like or have suggestions please feel free to contact me and I will respond ASAP. If you'd like to commission a work I can also arrange that.

I intend in the coming months to have an instrument gallery featuring instruments (basses at first) for sale at Heinl's. They will be presented as photos with brief descriptions. It has always been a point of pride that patrons have never been subjected to pressure sales and part of the reason I am presenting these instruments is for people to see what we have without having to commit to making an appointment to come down to try them out.

Thanks for visiting! I will be adding content daily so please drop by often.

More to come!