Painted Violin by Thomas French
"Before I was given the instrument, I thought about the wooden body of a violin and I imagined white clouds in a blue sky wrapped around the neck and shoulders, and a path below leading through a valley toward an ocean, perhaps an ocean of sound. The flowers became notes of color on the hillsides. I wanted the finished, decorative instrument to be playful and imaginative, yet durable, so that a child or an adult could pick it up and hold it in their hands, turning it over. Like some uplifting piece of music, I wanted to offer a small, brightly colored world of fantasy."