above:
A cello top made of two
pieces of book-matched
Alaskan yellow cedar.
It’s not a traditional
material for a cello top,
but it makes a fine-
sounding instrument.
top right:
The linings ready to
be glued to the edge
of the viola, completing
its internal support
framework.bottom right:
Clothespins hold the
linings of a violin in
place while the glue
dries and sets.‘I know I’m not a great player,
but I just want a cello that
sounds nice under my ear,’ ”
Cole says. She made what she
calls a “mellow cello” that won’t
sound squeaky, even in the
hands of a less-than-expert
player. She also custom-crafts
each instrument so it’s fitted to
each player’s unique physical
attributes, such as finger length.
Construction of a violin or
viola takes about 90 hours, with
another 90 for finishing work.
A cello takes even more time,
about 250 total hours. Cole
starts by drawing the instru-
ment’s shape on a block of
wood, then carves it out with
a router. Next, she uses hand
tools to shape the arch of the
body. Though most makers
would glue blocks onto a mold
that they press the sides of the
instrument (or “ribs”) around –
an approach that ensures uni-
formity from instrument to
instrument – Cole works pieceleft:
String Theory (1987)
features one of Cole’s
early iterations of
scroll design.a viola by Italian Renaissance
master Gasparo da Salò; she
had started it back in ninth grade.
So began a career that has
lasted more than four and a half
decades. Cole, 74 and back in
her native Albuquerque since
1973, has earned a loyal follow-
ing for her instruments. After
an initial period of making more
conventional products – “Why
are we all making copies of
Stradivarius, one after another?”
she recalls wondering – Cole
adopted a more idios yncratic
approach. She matches the
timbres, and styles, her clients
ask her to create.
She starts each project by
asking the musicians about
their needs. A first-chair violin-
ist might want a bright sound
that can cut through the orches-
tra, a beginning player a more
forgiving instrument that can
smooth out imperfections of
technique. “I just made a cello
for a person, and she told me, Photos^ (9 ):^ CourtesyofAnne^ Cole14 american craft aug/sept 19