Simon Shaw Ce Silver

Born to English parents, Simon Shaw grew up all over the world, mostly in Australia and Canada. A master goldsmith, Diamond setter and hand engraver, he began his training at 15 and worked successfully in the trade for almost 2 decades. In his thirties he decided to change professions and follow a childhood dream to become a violin maker. He moved to the UK and completed the 3 year violin making, restoration and repair diploma at the Newark Violin School. While there he discovered “archeterie”  and was befriended by John Stagg who helped to channel his career in the trade into bowmaking specifically, a friendship that exists to this day. As a natural extension of his earlier career in jewelry he moved to France upon graduation and apprenticed first to Master Gilles Duhaut in Tours. He subsequently was hired by the legendary Raffins atelier in Paris where he spent the following 2 years. Upon returning to Canada he ran a successful violin and bow workshop in Halifax Nova Scotia before moving to Toronto in 2017. Simon also has a lifelong love of rubber ducks and makes large dynamic rubber duck sculptures which he tours around the US and Canada in an effort to enable positivity and connectedness particularly during this trying time.