Doriane Bodart Violin Bow silver mounted ebony

Born in London in 1972 to violin-making parents, Doriane Bodart was inspired by an environment of music and craftsmanship. With the moral support and advice of her father, she first apprenticed in Paris with Stéphane Thomachot.. Bodart’s interest in bow making blossomed into her passion. From 1994 to 1995, she trained with Gilles Duhaut in Mirecourt, France. During the same busy year, she learned bow restoration in Pierre Guillaume’s Brussels workshop where she was exposed to particularly beautiful and rare bows. Bodart returned to Thomachot in 1996 to further refine her skills and technique, making bows to Thomachot’s exacting standards. Her rigorous apprenticeship notwithstanding, Bodart continued to study and take classes at the Oberlin Workshop, with Charles Espey in the Seattle area, and with Noel Burke in Ireland. Since October 1999, Bodart has been making and restoring bows in her Paris workshop, which was once the sculpture studio of her grandfather, Marcel Bodart. She shares this majestic space with violin maker Stephane Bodart, her cousin.