Custom inlays if tastefully done can take
an attractive instrument and turn it into an absolute
show-stopper. This kind of project is not suited for those in a hurry
or short on funds as this kind of work can easily add thousands of
dollars to the price of the instrument and six months to a year to the
completion time.
Several years ago someone pointed out that if you held one of my
electric violins upside-down, it looked like a jellyfish. I love to
watch jellyfish. I see them fairly often when I go sea kayaking (my
favorite outdoor activity) and we live less than two hours away from
the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a world class aquarium with several species
of jellyfish on permanent display that I can sit and watch for
hours. Craig Lavin
contacted me about doing inlays and I told him about this idea I had of
inlaying a jellyfish into a violin fingerboard. He was intrigued. Among
his many interests and professional qualifications, Craig is a marine
biologist, and he had never inlaid a jellyfish before. We spent a while
communicating back and forth about what would compliment the lovely
jellyfish that Craig had designed. We came up with the concept of
inlaying a sea turtle on the oppposite side of the instrument. Sea
turtles are immune to the stinging cells of jellyfish. Baby sea turtles
can feed on jellyfish even while wrapped in their tentacles, and adult
sea turtles sometimes eat
jellyfish. I planned a blue sunburst violin over flamed maple to give
the water effect and a concept piece was born.
The best inlay concepts are well though out designs rather than little
things tossed together.
Craig's inlays were made using several kinds of iridescent shells,
wood, stone. Some of the most impressive work to me were the small
tentacles of the jellyfish made by inlaying tiny irregular pieces of
silver in delicate grooves. The sand nest that the hatchling turtle
climbed out of at the top of the inlay on its dash toards the sea was
made by inlaying sand a few grains at a time. Even the sand was
special, its real sand from the turle grass flats from the Dominican
Republic.
While I've routinely handled the inlays on my own instruments
throughout my career, there are times when it's best to leave these
things to a world class specialist for the optimal result. In those
instances where I do decide to outsource some aspect of a Jordan
instrument, I only choose the very best. When this violin made its
debut at the winter NAMM trade show, it was as the centerpiece of my
exhibit and many of the best inlay artists in the business stopped to
admire Craig's work and mine.
Custom inlays are quoted individually and I reserve the right to refuse
to allow inlays that I percieve as being in poor taste or design. Given
that initial sketches are required even to quote a project for
complicated inlay work, a non-refundable deposit towards the inlay work
may be required even if the customer's final decision is to not go
forward with inlay work.