Hola Hivers! Feliz de hacer este nuevo post para que sigan conociendo un poco más mi trabajo y de lo que ha sido recuperar la tradición familiar hasta llegar a los niveles de prestigio que me he ganado con tanta dedicación y amor a la luthería.

It is important to emphasize that I am also happy to be part of the Cultores de Venezuela, registered in the Cabinet of Culture of the state of Sucre as a craftsman of Cumaná in the area of Lutherie since 2018, contributing to the strengthening of tradition, through craftsmanship that is part of the cultural heritage of Venezuela, which in turn, becomes an alternative source of employment and transmission of the history of the state of Sucre.

In the year 2014 were my first steps in lutherie as an independent artisan, full of dreams and happy to continue the family tradition, dedicating only a little free time due to my current job at the Universidad de Oriente that since 2006 I work as an Organization Analyst and for reasons of schedule I could not dedicate more time to such a great work. But it was not an excuse to leave aside the art of making instruments, there was always free time during the day and weekends that I gladly took advantage of to continue researching and testing my projects.

In these short but steady steps, I had the help of two great people who contributed to my professional formation, first of all my uncle Asdrubal Figueroa was very happy that I made the decision to make instruments and to follow the family tradition that he proudly belonged to and carried out for many years being the 3rd generation.

He always supported me in every step of the construction and I counted on his experience and unconditional help to make some key pieces in the whole process, as well as, the design of some templates and tools that I had to have to facilitate the work.

Likewise, Master Luthier Crispín Becerra, born in Cumaná in the 40's, was an excellent school teacher and dedicated his life to education for many years and when he retired he took up luthiery as a hobby and some time later he consolidated as a recognized luthier in Venezuela and the world, for that reason he was called "El Maestro Becerra" (The Master Becerra).

Crispin was an excellent guide, he told me at that time, "You will go far! because the Figueroa blood is good and you, so young, have your whole life ahead to do amazing things and to return the prestige that your family had many years ago, besides you have technological resources that you know very well" those words of encouragement and support were and will be important in my career as a luthier.

As the days went by, Maestro Crispin would visit me more frequently and tell me "How is the work going", feeling more and more proud of my progress and the success I would soon achieve. In spite of his advanced age, the master mastered many techniques and skills that I only saw in the videos of famous international luthiers; it is worth mentioning that he was a great luthier researcher and very well known in Venezuela and the world for his virtuoso musical instruments that he made.

My place of work was for 2 years the balcony of my house, having a very nice view and outdoors, at that time I made my first 30 Venezuelan Cuatros, including excellent thematic custom projects that in the next post I will show you. Little by little the respect and humility of my work made that many people called me "Master" feeling more committed and happy for the achievement I was reaching.

In this space I managed to receive great people from the interior of the country who were satisfied with their instruments and who shared with me unforgettable moments, full of good music and laughter, since the admiration they felt for my work and my quality of service made them travel to my humble home that I used as a workshop.

Soon I will document several posts of great work done on this balcony, where it all began and that when I see the photos again take me back to those wonderful times that with much dedication, faith, commitment, responsibility and dreams have been achieved.