  NOTES: This was a really fun project I did for Jim Aarnio. His direction was to make it "elegant but not overdone" -- so I matched my style to the existing Selmer engraving and did work on selective key cups. The engraving looks incredible against the dark lacquer. |
 NOTES: I was given free reign on this horn and decided to do it in the style of the old Conn "Portrait" models. The water mill scene was done using straight cuts, which are extremely difficult to execute properly. |
 NOTES: As with many projects, I was given a rough idea of what the owner wanted. In this case, the request was to have Botticelli's famous painting of Venus included, as well as elaborate straight cut work over the entirety of the horn. I decided to take it several steps further and made this horn one of the most elaborate works I have ever seen. I did all of the main lining work with the smallest flat graver and used a square graver for all of the "push cut" work. This remains my most complex and in-depth work to date. |
 NOTES: This was a soprano I chose to do in the Conn "Portrait" style, using one of my favorite themes - the ocean. Most of the fill work is done using straight cuts, which is extremely time consuming but produces a really great effect. |
 NOTES: This horn was a relacquered Conn New Wonder tenor, often mis-labelled as a "Chu Berry" model. I re-cut the original pattern and then elaborated on it over the rest of the horn. The challenge here was to make the engraving match the original pattern, and yet incorporate my own style. I chose to add a "portrait" to the horn of a castle, which is another favorite motif. |
 NOTES: This was a really difficult yet fun project. My task was to "fix" the existing engraving which was re-engraved by someone in the past and added to in a few places on the body. I re-re-cut most of the bell, fixed the lines on the portrait, and then incorporated an art deco theme on the rest of the sax. I was extremely pleased with the design I came up with for the bell rim. I plan on using this on other projects. |
 NOTES: This was a seemingly impossible project when I first got it. The task was to restore the original pattern and then add to it. The problem was that the original pattern was extremely weak and unartistic. It relied almost completely on part of the pattern being sand-blasted and the other part being polished. So, I decided (with the owner's blessing) to do some very radical design changes and make the horn into an art deco show piece. You can see the progress in the series above. The final design incorporated butterflies and some other classic deco themes. The end product can be seen at World Wide Sax. |
   NOTES: This horn was purchased by a client in Germany off of eBay and shipped directly to me. The owner let me have complete freedom, so I did something extra special and gold-plated all of the engraving, which turned out absolutely amazing! Because of the seriousness of the chemicals involved, I have decided not to do any more plating, so this and my solid silver flute are the only ones I ever plan on doing this way. |
  NOTES: This is one of my oldest jobs, and it remains one of my favorites. The owner was a little embarassed to ask me to do a Vito tenor since it wasn't a professional horn. My response was to make the horn even more elaborate and nice. My work is all about adding personality and attention to an instrument -- not elitism. I will do the same quality of work on a beloved student model as I will a top-of-the-line pro horn. |
| NOTES: This bari features a rose motif.   |
| NOTES: The engraving on this was part of a birthday present from a husband to his wife. She brought me a beautiful King Liberty Master Model trumpet as an example that belonged to her mom. She also requested trumpet vines. I completed the floral and could help but feel something important was missing, so I added a hummingbird feasting on one of the flowers. I did the bird completely in straight cuts!    |