Today I went to visit the gentleman who made 'Martha', my new violin. It was absolutely fascinating; he showed me the whole process of making a violin from selecting and cutting the wood from the tree to carving the arches, the 'tap tones', the guage for the plate thicknessess (wow so finite!) and even the purfling and how to fit it. It was incredible to see all the tools (the tiny little planes and the huge drill!!) used in what is an incredibly complicated process. I had no idea the ribs were so thin and that the sound bounces off the back plate and out through the 'f' holes, or the way the neck is set - so many little bits and pieces of artistry to put a violin together!

He had violins in all states of repair and varnish etc and I heard quite a few of them played to hear all the different 'characters'! He has written the 'history' of Martha including where her wood came from (a local castle estate) to the patterns he used for her back and belly (the Maggini 'f' holes). This story will now always travel with her so she has begun her 'life' as a violin with a full pedigree

Most exciting too was the wood he gave me.. I have an exhibition of paintings coming up based on the theme 'trees' in 2008 and was planning to include a still-life painting of a violin. I now have two violin-shaped panels of wood, cut to be the back and belly of a violin, on which I'm going to paint tree images for the exhibition and hang them beside the painting of the violin. How exciting!

It was an incredible visit for a violin 'nut' like me but although it's fascinating I don't think I could ever try making one myself (although my Dad used to) because I'm not much good at physics and the 'science' of the whole procedure can be mind-blowingly complicated if you want to get into it.

I'm just so thrilled to have a hand-made violin, especially such a sweet one, and I feel incredibly lucky. This is the start of a long love-affair with her

You don't need to be an engineering genius to make a violin, there are plenty of paper plans and even pre-cut-out violin 'kits' available that you can start out with. The skills needed to start making a violin from scratch are: an eye for detail, patience and expert skill in handling wood carving tools, this comes with practice and a fairly long apprenticeship under a master luthier, but still carries no guarantee you'll ever be a really good violin maker in your own right.

Stradivari was no physicist or engineer, his violins were built on prior knowledge and experience, and only perfected through trial and error. In fact, that's the way most instruments were originally developed. Sure, the whole thing has been studied by physicists in the 20th century and a lot more is known about acoustics and the structure of how instruments work - the latest study technique being laser vibrometry - but, at the end of the day, an engineer may be able to design and make the most refined looking instrument around, but still not produce the ultimate violin as far as the player is concerned.

Some luthiers hit on a way of doing things that work and a lot of that comes down to luck I'm afraid. I'm sure even Stradivari made some ropey specimens that never even got varnished.

You don't even need to do a long apprenticeship if you just want to make one for fun, to see how it is done. Try one of the summer schools such as Cambridge violin makers, where you can go for a week at a time. It would take several of these weeks to complete a violin, depending on how adept you were with wood-working tools, and how much opportunity you might have to do some of the work at home.

Instruments made on such courses come out very well if you make them carefully.

Now, don't start putting ideas into Lottie's head! She's bad enough about violins as she is!

Ohhhh drooooll.... I would love to do something like that - imagine making your own violin

Well there's NO chance because I don't have the space/tools/time ... but I can dream....although knowing me, I'd probably chop off the odd finger with the sharp thingies....

Anyway, I went back to the Luthier's Emporium to collect Martha - she has had a new nut made for me to just bring her strings a hairsbreadth closer together to make things more comfortable for my fingers. While I was there I was given the chance to try 'Jeanie' and 'Deb' who were hanging on the wall. 'Jeanie' is stunning - a real soloists instrument with a huge warm sound which could fill the Albert Hall!! She actually made my ears ring! 'Deb' was rich too although not quite so deep-voiced or as loud as 'Jeanie'. I tried two others as well but don't remember their names or their patterns . It was incredible to feel the differences and hear about how it's all down to 'arches', patterns, soundpost position...etc etc

I do think Martha is the best match for me just now. She was described as an 'ensemble/chamber' instrument which suits me fine because I'm not a hugely outgoing person She's lovely and sweet (although much 'bigger' sounding than my 7/8) and I adore playing her.

Oh, and I've just finished reading Toby Faber's book 'Stradivarius' so if anyone's interesting in violin history it's great reading (only £5.50 from www.play.com)