Traditions: Ohio Heritage Fellows; 102; Doug Unger interview, part 5 of 6

Restating: Uh, you start with a shell which been purchased commercially. Uh, snail is my favorite, mother of pearl, abalone, I use them all in various mixtures. They’re cut out um, with a jeweler’s saw and then very carefully cleaned uh, edges with needle files, various needle files to get rid of any saw cut. Um, pencil drawing with like 4H with a needle point is how I draw on the shells, so I get the designs just right and I make templates with tracing paper, its pretty time consuming. I save all of my templates. I have thousands of them.

Q: And then, how long does it normally take or to complete and inlay?

DOUG: Well it depends on how elaborate it is. Um, an inlay can be cut out in a matter of a couple of minutes or some can take an hour if they’re very ornate. Uh, sometimes takes... you have to take the saw apart and thread the blade through a little hole in the pearl... Restating: Uh, some inlays can be cut out in a couple of minutes, five minutes. Some can take over an hour, hour and a half if they’re very ornate and have uh, holes in the center where you have to thread saw blades through and sand, they can be very, very uh, time consuming. Sometimes they break... you have to start over again, so pearl is sometimes very fragile.

Q: How does it make you feel when you’ve got all this work accomplished and then it does break?

DOUG: Uh, you take a break. Put a different uh, tape on the tape player and re uh, refocus and start over again.

Q: How long does it take to complete and instrument in full?

DOUG: Um, it takes about three weeks to a month and a half depending on how fancy it is. Uh, whether it’s fancy or playing the varnish time is the same and that’s very time consuming. Usually when I start varnishing an instrument um, then I start another project ‘cause you can’t watch varnish dry, so it... that takes a while... takes anywhere from two or three weeks to a month and a half.

Q: Now, you’ve taught others your skills... Restating: Um, you have taught others your skills, why?

DOUG: Um, I’ve... I’m a teacher, I mean I taught painting and drawing for a long time and I uh, always enjoyed teaching and imparting knowledge and skill. I... I like sharing um, what I know. I think, I think I like seeing people learn a craft and get good at it. And just like teaching painting and drawing, I’m a teacher.

Q: We, as a society, have lost many of our traditional art, so why is it important to keep instrument making alive?

DOUG: Well, I think music will stay alive and I think traditional music, particularly, will stay alive. It has an endearing quality to it and um, the banjo is uh, a wonderful instrument, it’s an American instrument and it’s gonna be around and I think people will always be making them as long as they’re playing them. And I love the idea that they will be made well.

Q: How many apprentices have you had and what have they gone on to do?

DOUG: Oh, I think I’ve had about eight or ten. Uh, a couple of them making their living at it now... Restating: I’ve had about eight or ten apprentices. And I think a couple are making their living at it now. And some, it’s just a wonderful past time for them and they only... they only have so much time to put to it. But some take it very, very seriously. Uh, some who’ve find out how hard it is don’t have the staying power to... to um, get really good at it. Other’s, they love it and they like the process of it and are willing to do it over and over again.

Q: Are these apprenticeships through the, is it Ohio Arts Council Traditional Arts uh, Apprenticeship programs?

DOUG: Yes... um, Restating: The apprenticeships are through the Ohio Arts Council uh, Traditional Arts Apprenticeship program. And they’re open to anyone who finds a craftsman that they want to work with. If they can seek out the help of that teacher who’s willing to show them their skills, they can apply for a grant to learn that. And it’s one of the wonderful uh, programs the Ohio Arts Council has. Restating: The Ohio Arts Council Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program uh, really aids and helps out craftsmen who have found a master that they would like to learn from. And they spend a period of time in the shop, in the studio um, being patiently shown skills that the master has acquired over years.

Q: Tell me about Mark?

DOUG: Uh, Mark’s probably my favorite apprentice. Um, I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve known him as a... a wonderful fiddler and a very sensitive guy and we played music together and then he was interested in the banjo and would start to sound me out about how do you do this, and how do you do that and I think eventually we decided we would do an apprenticeship program. And I took him through a kind of a... a set program on uh, procedures and how to do this and how to do that and um, he... his skills just skyrocketed with that. The whole time we had always played tunes together, so we’re music friends and... Restating: Mark’s probably um, one of the best apprentices I’ve had. He came through uh, wanted to learn banjo making through being a really great player and a longstanding musician. I always admired his playing and he like my banjo making, so I think informally, he was always asking me how do you do this and how do you do that and I would always help it out and then finally we decided to do a project and apply for a grant which we got. And I taught him pearl engraving particularly and um, he really uh, he really progressed wonderfully.

Q: What does it mean to you to be awarded the Ohio Heritage Fellowship Award?

DOUG: Receiving an Ohio Heritage Award was uh, well, it was a really a great thrill, because I would... it was uh, so used to trying to win painting prizes and drawing prizes um, that to get this uh, it meant... well, it sort of meant uh, an awful lot to me because uh, uh Tony Ellis was... who was one of my heroes received one and I was thrilled to... to be judged with him to be worthy of one.

Q: You told me earlier you make an instrument and you forget about it. I find that amazing because, to me, you’ve spent so much time. You see the beauty after it’s completed. I... to me I... I would think you would... you’d always know that that’s your instrument and you know, oh, I remember when I did that. But to you, that’s not the case.

DOUG: Yea, I’ve seen instruments that I’ve made that I have no recollection that I ever made. And I knew... I know that I had fixated on them for a block of time and it dominated my life but I think its part of being an artist is that once it’s out of your head it’s gone. And it’s always about the next instrument that’s in your head or on the work bench. So I think that... that... that happened with paintings too. I’d see paintings that I did and my name is on it but you know, I just don’t remember I ever did that. So it’s sort of, I think, is something that uh, all artists sort of go through.

Q: What does it mean to you to be able to make banjo’s basically as a career for your life?

DOUG: Well, it’s helped me um, just uh; handle the expenses of living, getting my kids through school. I was able to do that but it’s a lot of work but uh, it’s how I live so it’s work to me. Um, I try to make it as much fun and make it as rewarding as possible but that’s how I make my living so I always have to pay bills with things and I take that very seriously.

Q: Why did you start making banjos and mandolins?

DOUG: Well, I fell in love with them uh, the beauty of them. Uh, it was magical, it was new to me. And I was just amazed at how stunning they were and I couldn’t afford to buy one. I was a poor student. And a friend of mine who uh, chided me into trying to uh, make one, he says, you’re an artist. He says, don’t artists make things like that? And I go, oh no, it’s not a painting. I could make a painting, I can’t make that. He goes sure you could, it’s just different material. He was pretty sharp about things. And uh, once he said that to me I... I started to think about it and didn’t take too long before I started the task of how do you do it and where do you find this and where do you find that? And the problem was there was nobody to help. Um, I never seek out help unless I’m stumped. And when I’m stumped then I have to find out who to ask. And in banjo making there’s not a lot of people to ask. And when I got started in it, there wasn’t anybody to ask, so I had to figure it all out myself. And there’s a part of being an artist that artists are problem solvers and you hand ‘em a tool and they’ll figure out how to use it. Uh, how do you do this and how do you do that? Artists like to figure that out. So um, I did... I did... that’s what artists can do, figure things out.

Q: What is, for a lack of a better term, your proudest moment in making a banjo?

DOUG: Uh, usually before it starts, actually... if the vision is never reached. I—If you could reach your vision you wouldn’t do it. Then you’ll want to do something else that’s a challenge. I mean, if you... if you know that you’re gonna make it just like you thought uh, you might not do it. I have the uh... a wonderful vision in my head that—but I’m gonna try to do and then it’s all down hill. So they may be nice in the end but all I see is the struggle. But I can pull it off but uh, it’s uh, it’s pretty tiring. I’m kind of sick of it when I’m done with one. I want to go on to the next one. It’s always the next one is always the best one. And it’s sort of, I’m wise to the fact that that’s unobtainable but I keep trying.