A flute for a special girl

I am asking for everyone to play a song, pray or any other good energy for my niece Mackenzie Walchuk who is suffering from Sclerosing Cholangitis and is having a liver transplant Tuesday June 19th. Mackenzie is 11 years old; she will be the youngest liver transplant recipient in Canada.

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Match for MacKenzie

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I have just finished making her a special flute made of wild black cherry from my father’s property with purpleheart accents. I have also wood burned on the flute the Celtic cross with her birthstone of sapphire inlayed in the center to represent hope, Ivy weaving up the finger holes to represent life and a Jade heart inlayed near the sound hole to represent love.

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Sadly my wife's Father Walter Walchuk, Mackenzie's grandfather has just passed away on Wednesday June 13th after a tough battle with cancer. He will be sadly missed.

Take care

Golden Amboyna Burl Em

Amboyna burl is said to be the rarest burl in the world, it is also a very expensive wood. There are 2 colors that I have seen, red and golden. Both very beautiful with amazing grain patterns. As you can see in the photo's this wood has a depth to it that draws your eye's to follow the grain where ever it takes you.

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This is the first time I have work with this wood and it is very nice to work but has it's challenges. With this flute I have combined it with Payung Rosewood which is another very nice exotic wood. It is finished in a high gloss polyurethane finish polished to a glass like finish but still leaving some grain texture visible to show the depth in this wood. There were a few shallow voids in the wood which have been inlayed with Red Jasper, the stone of protection. During the creation process this flute was also smudged with Sweetgrass throughout the mouthpiece, sound hole and sound chamber to help bring out the voice.

This flute is concert tuned to Em Pentatonic standard fingering pattern. For me tuning is a special process, it determines in part the spirit of the flute. I take a few days with this process, playing each flute, thereby allowing the flute to give me direction. Each flute has it's own voice and each player has their own ear for what touches them.

I also offer tuning in Ken Light fingering pattern which has a slightly extended range but takes a little to get use to.

I have one more piece of this wood and will be getting more as it comes available.

Flute collection growing!

I have been busy making flutes! Getting ready to start selling locally in Brantford Ontario at a soon to be opened Gallery to be announced soon.

In this photo you can see some of the various flutes I have made, some for sale and some from my personal collection. As well as flutes, I will also be making flute stands in several designs to hold anywhere from one to multiple flutes. The one shown here holds 18 flutes

If you are interested in flutes or stands contact me at jim@earthspiritflutes. com

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Jarrah burl with Ebony and Jarrah accents

I came across this amazing piece of Jarrah burl wood but it was so badly checked (cracking) that I initially did not consider it would make a good flute but it was so nice I had to buy it anyway. After some thought I decided to try it by using jet black crushed stone inlayed in the cracks to seal the wood. Combining this with African black ebony and Jarrah accents this really turned out to be an amazing looking flute. The inlay process was time consuming but I think you'll agree it was worth the effort.

The totem is of the same Ebony and Jarrah laminated together to create a striking contrast in the abstract form of a wave to represent water. Tuned to high B this little guy sings loud and clear.

Spalted Maple and African Ebony

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The first in a series of Spalted Maple flutes I will be making. I came across some maple boards with some amazing spalting in them, enough for about 50 flutes.

Combining African black Ebony with the black spalt lines in the maple, ties it together. Finished with 3 coats of pure non-toxic tung oil and a final coat of natural beeswax. For the Totem I came up with this abstract design that represents water in the form of a wave.

Aromatic Cedar and Payung Rosewood Fm

I have wanted to make some flutes out of aromatic cedar so I went out and picked up a board and got right at it. The grain of this wood is amazing with swirls and knots that really stand out and colors from whitish yellow, pink and reds. The flute has 2 coats of walnut oil and finished in a high gloss clearcoat then polished to a glass like finish. Concert tuned to F4 minor pentatonic.


If you are interested in this flute contact me at jim@earthspiritflutes.com

Here are a few more images to show some
detail. click on images for larger version.