I'm delighted to introduce Gary Sounthwell from United Kingdom. I started making guitars in 1978 in my father's furniture making workshop. I was, and still am, a keen guitarist and artist. In 1980 I went to The London College of Furniture where I studied guitar making with...
I made my fist guitar at the age of 19 in 1993 under the supervision of David Wooldridge, who was also my first guitar teacher. I trained as a fine artist, completing a BA in fine art and later an MA in contemporary visual arts. Throughout my twenties and early thirties I worked as an artist and teacher. During this time I continued to play classical guitar.
As a child I was a talented artist and liked making models. In my teen years I began to learn to play the guitar and these two interests inevitably came together and I made my first classical guitar on my parent’s kitchen table when I was in my late teens. I abandoned a career in agriculture and instead applied for a place at the London College of Furniture to study Musical...
I have always had a strong connection to working with wood. When I was 12 years old I would build wooden objects such as spice racks, chairs and tables and sell them to neighbours in our street.
On leaving school I got a job maintaining and felling trees. During my free time, a guitar would always be on my knee...