A storm on the horizon? Certainly the media would have you believe it. So what can we do? We can work hard, we can enjoy life, we can create. After a while we will notice the storm has passed. Edwin

I no longer dream of huge projects requiring years to complete.I no longer lust for the extremely large canvas of possibilities...I find now endless possibilities within the smaller canvas. Using less resources, both of mine and of the worlds I find rewards aplenty in the well designed and the well executed. Edwin

I got a birthday card once which said "50 years isn't old if you are a tree". 50 hrs to make a tree isn't so bad either, I suppose. Next will be to shape the ends of this fret board and install the frets. Where do the other end of the go sticks go? A picture really is worth a few words at least, Edwin

Well, these sticks, called "go" sticks, should keep those abalone shells from escaping anytime soon. The purpose of "go" sticks is to keep things from going. One must make hideous messes while creating art, at least I do. Creating a stylized tree seems to take about as much time as growing one. Two days to complete a few inches. Edwin

Natures art. Its hard to improve on the color schemes thought up by old mother nature. Move the light a little, and the colors change again. From the sea bottom comes abalone, great to eat with shells beautiful to look at. Rainbow colors from a rainbow-less environment. These shells shall join with others to become a Douglas Fir tree on the fingerboard on my next guitar. More to come, Edwin

Is this art? Certainly not, but it will be, in fact starting to become art now. In reality this is little more than a drawing on a napkin at a cafe. It is the rough draft for the inlay of the fretboard on the latest guitar. More to come, Edwin

Exciting times in the old shop. I just put a coat of grain filler on the latest [greatist?] guitar. The filler brings out the true color of the woods, in this case Claro Walnut and Port Orford Ceder. The color contrast between these woods is extrordinary. Its going to be gorgeous. The sound is going to be a treat as well. It should have a Flamingo flavoring. Starting today on the fingerboard inlays as well, just wait to see that, Edwin

Arts and Crafts. We see it listed that way all the time, as though they are nearly the same. But are they the same? A well crafted table isn't art, or is it. Craftsmen that work their whole lives perfecting there skills rarely call themselves artists. Artist who cover themselves with paint and roll naked over canvas rarely call themselves craftsmen.

Color. Contrast or complimentary? Light on dark, dark on light? smooth on texture? Plain or figured? All of these choices, and many more, make up an artistic piece. Make a mistake. Does it get left or redone? Choices are a part of life, and a part of art. The choice to start or not is also a choice, and for many the most important one. Just Imagine and start. Edwin

The top is now on the guitar body. It is simply glued on, clamped until dry. The next step will be to install the binding, which is a strip of wood that covers the joint of top to the sides. This guitar features a Walnut back and sides which should contrast very nicely with the almost white Port Orford cedar top. Edwinn

What is this weirdness? Its the top of my latest guitar. The underside of the guitar top to be precise. The braces are what gives the top strength to stay put year after year with the incredible tension put on the top from the strings. These braces are individually carved to achieve a desired tone. Generally speaking the thinner the bracing the better the sound. There is of course a trade-off as the bracing needs strength as well. I generally solve this problem by laminating carbon fiber in between two layers of wood. Carbon fiber is very strong and very light. This combination makes a very cool sounding guitar. And a guitar that will be around for a while as well. Edwin

Obsession is the driving force to the creation of art. An artist does what he does, creates what he does because he can't not do it. He has no choice in the matter. An artist goes to sleep thinking about his art, wakes up thinking about his art,, and thinks about his art all the live-long day. There is no choice in this. Obsession is not a bad thing. It is an essential element to the creative process. Edwin

Form vs function. You can have both. When designing a new guitar, I agonize over a curve or shape sometimes for hours. The sound is effected so little with subtle shape changes that almost any shape will do. But visually subtle differences make a huge difference. The difference to me is whether or not I can build that guitar as I need to be inspired by what I'm creating. No inspiration, no guitar. Edwin

Just because one can doesn't necessarily mean one should. You can paint a car with stripes of varying color but it probably would look like shit. You can make a guitar look as though it arrived from outer space, but it would take someone like Prince to make it work. Traditions on the 1st blush seem boring, but traditions became traditions for a reason, and that is acceptability. All artist need a level of acceptability to continue. Traditions also need to be challenged. Edwin