Artist Ave: Cedra Wood

While many UNM students are busy studying conventional subjects like math and journalism, Cedra Wood is at the back of the C&J building quietly constructing world-class violins.

Wood, a master’s student in painting and drawing, spends her spare time working with Violin Shop Director Peter White. The pair recently crafted a viola that won a medal for antiquing in the International Competition for Antiqued Instruments in Cremona, Italy. Wood is now working on recreating a violin called the Goetz-Hawaian, created by Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari in 1695.

The Daily Lobo caught up with Wood to talk about the age-old and time-consuming craft.
Daily Lobo: How long have you been playing the violin for?

Cedra Wood: Actually, I don’t play the violin. My involvement is largely helping to antique stuff. I’m learning the trade. I’m an apprentice with Peter White in the violin program. Mostly my role is helping to research and helping to replicate older violins.
DL: So what attracted you to violin making, if you don’t play?

CW: I think it’s sort of arcane and strange. It’s not like a skill you get by accident. I’m interested in hand work of all types. I get really into weaving. Anything you can learn to make that you wouldn’t have to make, I think it’s kind of special.
DL: Without training, how do you know your violin sounds right?

CW: Partly because I’m an apprentice, I just kind of trust that it will. … What you do in making replicas is try to make (the new violin) exactly like (the old one) and hope that it will sound exactly like it.

DL: Would you recommend this career path to other students?
CW: If they love it. I don’t know that there’s an incredibly high demand for well-made instruments. I haven’t marketed them, so I don’t know. But it’s something I’d recommend getting involved in. … It’s a really hard thing. It’s like a painting. It depends on who you market it to, who your clientele is.

DL: You mentioned to me that you paint violins to make recreations of old models. Do you just paint, like, the varnish, or do you sometimes put more intricate designs on it?

CW: (Pointing to picture of antique violin) Like this one, there are a lot of insignias relating to the crown, the court that commissioned it. So we paint it as close as we can and distress it as much as we can to get it to look like as much like this as we can.