So in a day when this country has two fine violin making schools whose students put out exceptional instruments – what makes this man’s passion so special? He relies on the past using the wood from the same area that  Stradivari obtained his. He uses the same tools, the same treatment of wood – bee vomit to be exact - and other organic materials common to the time when Stradivari  made his violins. There is nothing man-made with the exception of the strings used in his violins. The resulting sound is truly music to my ears.

 By focusing on the future we can  learn from the past. Craftsmen such as Arthur do not come every day. It’s important that this skill and his technique be preserved for future generations. Talking with Arthur and just being around him watching his time honored and sometimes age old techniques when he is doing his work  has taken me to preserving all this in videos. When someone makes an energetic connection with one of Arthur’s fiddles, like most of us with anything we love, we  want to know more about it. How was it made? Where did it come from? Hopefully, this video will provide that connection as well as preserving his method of craftsmanship for generations to come.

What began as a simple video taping of Arthur's 82nd birthday party has grown to a full documentary. The means for funding a project like this rely heavily on private donations. Grants that might be given for such an undertaking are generally reserved for non-profit organizations. Those that do offer individual grants are rarely for the amount needed to produce such a project. Most projects like this are not even started unless funding is already in place. For that reason, a lot of projects are only just talked about. I believe that this story needs to be told and that is why I am working to get it completed.

It takes a lot of time and money to produce a documentary. With nearly 30 hours of video taken to date, most of them of Arthur making a 5 string fiddle, many more hours are required to edit for a final 60 or 90 minute video. According to Arthur, this is the only time he has been so extensively videotaped.  He supports the making of this project. After all, it is his legacy.  He has tutored several instrument makers in the past and recognizes that his methods and techniques are not that unique, they’ve just been forgotten over the years. Unless this can be preserved, they may be forgotten.