The Art of Inlay

Luthier's  decorative signature!

An old 1911 Italian mandolin on Ebay, became the reason for  inspiration and the creation of a very unique inlay design featuring a sea-siren.

I am always fascinated by decoration designs and themes which follow a folklore feel and look

The master luthier Xristos Spourdalakis in his last interview explains:

"Apart from specific exceptions of older luthiers (such as Stathopoulos, Gkelis etc.) and few modern luthiers, I would like to point out that, - in my opinion - it is a pity that the modern Greek Lutherie seems to be showing no interest in personal aesthetic and decorative signature by its creators."

In the Greek lutherie forum www.luthier.gr , someone can easily discover  passion and talent, by new, amateur luthiers , but only few makers creating instruments with their own unique decorative signature.

Another master luthier Nikos Fronimopoulos, in one of his interviews analyzing the complexity and the mixture of other Arts, which traditional Lutherie (Καλλιτεχνικη Οργανοποιεια) contains, he answers:

 "The lutherie, borrows many elements from many other arts (carpentry, woodcarving, decoration, design, etc.). Also, uses the results of science, such as acoustics, chemistry and engineering. Thus, the instrument maker is a craftsman, who should know all of these elements, which will push him to evolve even further, the art of lutherie. And certainly he should have a very good knowledge of music, so he is able to evaluate the quality of sound, produced by his instruments, but also he should have a broader general education, in order to monitor new developments in his field, and be able to access multiple information that are available today."
(http://www.klika.gr/ )

When I am designing inlays for my instrument's decoration,  I  always try to follow  the same process which a luthier would  follow during the physical construction of the musical instrument
This process gives me a fair indication regarding the level of difficulty which the luthier will face during creation.

I thought to share the unique design inspired by the 1911 Italian mandolin.

Siren (c) S.Dimis 2015
Siren (c) S.Dimis 2015
Siren (c) S.Dimis 2015


  

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