The secret is no longer
I have broken it down!
Like many others, I have been researching the mysteries of the Italian varnishes and the
layer underneath which we refer to as the ground layer for twenty or more years now. Thankfully I do not recall all of my dissapointments otherwise I could not have continued in my usual obsessional manner to pursue and test my various ground compositions or receipes on my lovely creations. It very often requires one to abandon ones natural feelings of preservation in exchange for the acceptance of the possible ruination of a work that has been lovingly carved to perfection. Luckily for me I have little or no hesitation in making such sacrificies if one day it brings a small amount of complacency and a sense of achievment to my poor restless soul.
Today, a violin by myself which had been given the full treatment of my latest ground receipe, and by the way marks the end of my years of research in that field has proven to be a total success. The violin was played by myself and a top violinist and a small audience and they and the player made the judgement , not me. The violinist who has played on many fine instruments said to me that she had never played on anything better and she had tried many fine Italian fiddles on loan to her for various concerts. Afterwards I told them how I had found it almost impossible to put down once I had started playing on it and also that I found that I was playing so much better than I usually do. Some people also remarked that the sound was almost too powerful for the ears and I found that to be the case also. The room in which we played was was probably 40'x 12' (feet x feet)
This is not a one off! I have seen and heard and measured the results of all my experiments over the years and this is an important break-through. I can now say that for me at least, there is no secret. I will be happy to answer any questions that this announcement may cause in your minds and if you want to tear round and have a play, let me know. Will I share the secret ground? don't know yet.
