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Olivia was awarded a placement, and she writes below about her time at Juliet Barker's workshop in Cambridge.  She has now completed her studies at Merton College and returned to her native Canada where she runs her own business in Ottawa, Fine Strings .

"In July 2007, I had the honour of attending one of Juliet Barker’s one week workshops for violin making, with thanks to the Rowan Armour-Brown Memorial Trust Fund.   With me I took the Strad ‘Archinto’ viola mould I had started at Merton College with Keith Graves and continued working on it during the week.   I felt privileged to receive advice and feedback from Juliet and to be able to observe the different methods she used in violin making.  It was particularly interesting for me to see how Juliet worked without jigs but instead often used the support of the workbench.  Also, it was beneficial for me to see different methods used for the various stages of making, for example, Juliet’s method of jointing wood was new to me and one which I have since successfully tried myself.  Juliet’s son, Chris Beament kindly took time to tell me about his varnishing techniques.  Quentin Playfair, a fellow Canadian maker, also gave me useful advice and helpful recommendations for the future. Overall, I found the experience invaluable, both in meeting Juliet Barker, a female icon in violin making, and to be given the opportunity to see different methods that I might be able to use in my own making.

The pictures are of the work I accomplished in Juliet’s shop – I finished the viola mould, attached the corner and end blocks, and the ribs. Also attached is a picture of Juliet showing me her method of jointing and a picture of my viola in its completion."

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