About the Artist & Master Craftsperson: Melenahe Martin
Melenahe Martin is an artist with formal training as a luthier and fine woodworker. She is a master craftsperson, skilled in the use of old-world hand tools, modern power tools, restoration and care of centuries-old instruments, woodworking, and artistic use of color and light.
BACKGROUND
Nahe was raised in the ‘70s and ‘80s between Oakland and Berkeley California, and her paternal home in Hawai'i. Her creations are informed by a love of the natural world, appreciation of history and preservation, gentleness, and music.
Her process is steeped in the wild beauty of the Pacific and uniquely rich culture of the San Francisco Bay Area of her childhood. She is gifted in lovingly coaxing beauty from wood, which she reveres as an extraordinary visual and tactile medium.
Her full given name, Melenahe, means “sing softly” in Hawai’ian, and is pronounced “MEH-leh-NAH-heh.” She is called Nahe “NAH-heh.”
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
Unique in today’s world, training as a luthier remains an immersive and all-consuming apprenticeship. Nahe devoted years of training with Master Violin Maker Edward Campbell of Pennsylvania, and emerged a maker of violins, violas, and cellos in 2004.
She spent a decade in the musically rich region of the Northeast repairing and maintaining instruments for classical and folk musicians with Vermont Violins and The Burlington Violin Shop. While in Vermont she maintained her own luthier studio where she was sought by local musicians for the care of their most valuable professional asset.
Nahe’s work as a luthier includes the making of her own violins, violas, and cellos, as well as restoration of wildly traumatized double basses. She most enjoys extensive repairs. She loves working with classical and folk players.
She has attended the Oberlin Summer Workshops, teaches and mentors emerging woodworkers, and is always seeking out educational opportunities in media or applications new to her. She has a well-nurtured network of luthier colleagues across the globe with whom she discusses finer points of lutherie.
COMTEMPORARY
