Hi!
My name is Alex, and I'm from Portugal. And yes, I'm actually bald, and proudly so!
I have a degree on Industrial Design, but due to options we all have in life, I came to France in 2012, and after 10 years as a graphic designer essentially in my home country, that career was almost left behind. I have done some graphic projects for friends since, but mostly I use that knowledge now to help me sell my projects. At the same time, I was tired of seeing that my work was helping to "pollute", visually, the city and my environment with images that led people to buy, buy, and buy again. Don't get me wrong, I love graphic design, but I hate the appeal made to consumers to buy compulsively.
In 2013 I started selling relic guitars for someone I knew then, a good friend of mine in the United Kingdom. Great work! Later on, I told myself, "Why don't I do it myself?". Easier said than done!
By December 2015 I did my first relic project (in fact, my first attempt was made some years ago, but we're going to leave that aside). This one right here sold though, weird... The second project turned out better, and it sold too, and things began, step by step, to go forward.
I started doing it on poly-finished guitars, mostly used, good deals. You can see my evolution, some other projects, and my personal guitars too at my first blog: https://mxkt-guitars.blogspot.com
I realized soon that I wanted more than just occasional projects; my body lives in the 21st century, but my heart rests attached to the golden decades of the 50s and 60s, before I was even born, in a country where I've never been, on the other side of the ocean. I also felt the need to create a new blog where I could show my work and passion, Baldman Guitar Relics.
After several months of struggling between my day job and my passion, I finally quit my day job, or at least one of them (yes, one of them), in 2019, to move with my wife to a place we bought. It was a huge life change, although we're just 15 minutes from where it all started. The change was more inside my head than anything else.
So, as long as the Lord allows me to have a breath of life, I will try to do my best, for His glory, for my pleasure, and for yours too, I hope.
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31
:: Custom orders?
Not really, sorry.
I chose to do relic finishes because I wanted to wake up every morning loving the work that God allows me to do; everyone has an idea of what they like about images they have seen and instruments they desire, but that’s not my goal, sorry. I really thank God that a lot of people love my work, but imagine this: how would you feel if your wife told you she loves you, but there’s a picture of someone else on her wallet or on the background of her smartphone? I don’t want to be seen as the guy who copies someone’s work and cheaper. That’s called exploitation, you know? Custom Shops exist for a reason, and that’s great, but I’m not one of them.
:: DISCLAIMER / BEWARE! ::
It doesn't happen a lot, but I have already found pictures of my work selling on websites that I didn't even know existed without my permission. If you saw my work selling on weird websites or non-secured platforms, please write me! Unfortunately, the internet is not as safe as we wish it would be, so don't go out buying or sending money if you have a doubt that it's not me you're talking to. If someone tells you that he's a retailer or something similar, don't trust that information without asking me if it's true.
God bless you, and be a blessing for others yourself.
The Baldman