A LUTHIER who crafts instruments from wood she travels around Europe to choose has seen interest increase as lockdown hobbies continue to surge.
Sheena Laurie has been making violins, violas and cellos for more than 10 years and makes each violin from wood picked by hand around the continent.
She sold her first instrument to Scots folk musician Brian McNeil in 2004 and only makes around three a year. Each one costs around £7500.
The mum-of-one sells instruments as far away as America but builds them in a workshop in Stirling.
She said: “I think during lockdown people realised it gave them a lot of pleasure and satisfaction to play an instrument, so the interest went up.
“I only sell about three to six instruments a year, due to how much work I put into each one.
“I spend about three months making each instrument, which can be hard due to demand from musicians. We used to spend our summers going around Europe visiting the woodyards and would select each piece by hand.”
Sheena learned violin at school while growing up in Glasgow, but wasn’t…
