I was strolling on the North Shore of Chattanooga, Tennessee today with my wonderful wife. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but a bit brisk due to the windy conditions. Still, many people were out and we stopped at a number of shops. One shop we stopped at was an art supply store, Art Creations, located on Cherokee Drive on the North Shore. This is a wonderful store, stocked with absolutely everything a budding artist would possibly need. They also have a small gallery of paintings, although the mainstay of the store is supplies and all the neat things that people who work with almost any medium would need.
I got to thinking while looking for ideas in the store. How do I make my guitars more unique? Am I building guitars, or am I building art?
I thought it a fair question, so I asked my wife. She said, in her practical manner, that she thought each guitar I built had art in it, and certainly as time has gone by, they are more and more artistic.
So the question begs itself. Could I build a guitar as a piece of framed art? A unit that would be framed, hang on a wall, but be allowed to be detached from its frame when you wanted to play it, and then become a piece of art in a frame when done? A centerpiece in a home of music, and yet a piece of art to describe the owner, to project them as musicians? Why not?
The question is not so far out there, if you have looked into my gallery of creations on the www.tsunamiguitars.com website. To put some of those guitars in frames would be almost natural, an extension of the artistic talent, so to speak. Originally, when I started, I wanted pieces of art, instruments that people would be proud to hold and play, while others looked on and admired the woodworking and colors of the exotic woods I use. Really, such a small step to frame them for hanging in a proper place in a home.
I think this deserves more attention. I think that Tsunami Guitars, as a piece of art, like a lot of luthier's works, is not much different than an actual piece of art designed to hang on a wall. The major difference is my work would actually play when the owner found the need. So in the future, you may see a Tsunami Guitar hanging in a gallery somewhere in Tennessee. I intend to pursue this, as I do believe I build art! So many have told me...What a piece of art! Maybe they are right, and the thing to do is design a way to mount a Tsunami Guitar into a frame, with the capability to pull it down when you want to play, then put it back up for your friends and family to admire when done. Certainly the bracket systems are already readily available to mount a guitar at a suggestive angle inside a frame. I cannot imagine a better calling for a guitar. Dual purpose - music and art, which go so well together. Stay tuned to Tsunami Guitars on Facebook and my website. You just may see my guitars hanging somewhere, framed, for sale as working art...I think it's an idea whose time may be near.
Tsunami
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