Traditions: Ohio Heritage Fellows; 102; Mark Ward interview, part 3 of 4

Q: Tell me about Doug’s work.

MARK: Doug’s work is, you know, you’ve heard the cliché something being breathtaking? That’s what Doug’s work is. You can see a picture of it and you can say boy that’s fine work. But when you really see it and you hold it in your hand, it looks alive. And um, he...it really is the most striking banjo work that I’ve ever seen.

Q: What has Doug taught you?

MARK: I think the most important thing that Doug has taught me is that you can have an artistic freedom within a traditional framework. And that’s really one of the first things that he would talked about with me, is that even though we work within this traditional medium, we can change things, we can alter things because we do have artistic freedom within what we do. Like a fiddle player plays a fiddle tune, it’s the same fiddle tune that’s been around forever, like an artist with a banjo. It’s a design, it’s a banjo but he can change it. He can alter it to suit his personality, what he wants.

Q: And how do you go about doing that?

MARK: That’s a question for Doug.

Q: Well you make ‘em, how do you make ‘em your individual?

MARK: For me I look at these images and I approach them from the idea of how can I make this look like something that’s not only old but something that would be attractive to me? And so, when I approach it, I try to create this with that idea but, also I look at it and I say, what would Doug do in this situation? Restating: When I do this... when... when... when... when I engrave, I look at what I’m... When I engrave... I don’t know. Restating: When I engrave, I try to draw a picture of what I see and what I would like to see on a banjo. At that point, I try to execute it. But as I’m doing that I’m thinking, you know, how does this fit into the tradition? Is this something that I would like to see? You know, I’d ne—there are certain things that I don’t want to see on a banjo that I just wouldn’t put there. On the other hand, the old traditional designs, the... the Victorian designs that Doug has shown me um, and Doug’s creative work all inspire what I do and I just try to emulate that.

Q: How has Doug kept the art form, the instrument making alive?

MARK: Doug’s kept is alive by being so creative within the medium. Um, he’s an in—just a wonderfully creative person. And he’s a non-stop worker. I mean he’s up at the crack of dawn and he works all day until supper. And that’s what he does and he does it seven days a week. And because he works just so incessantly he gets these banjos out there, he knows a lot of people, people know him and so he keeps it alive. He keeps it alive through his creativity.

Q: Why is that important?

MARK: Keeping this art form alive is a very important thing because it’s our history. It’s our past. And if we keep it going it will be part of our future. I mean, we’re... we don’t own these instruments, we’re just their caretakers. We polish ‘em up and we play ‘em and then we’re gone and that instruments gonna be there. And somebody else is gonna have it. And whether that in—instrument was made by A.C. Fairbanks in 1903 or whether it was made by Doug Unger in 2005, that instrument’s going to be there and it’s going to need somebody to have it, somebody to care of it because it’s a work of art.

Q: Why are his banjo’s considered works of art?

MARK: Doug’s banjo’s are considered works of art because of their depth and thought. I mean, he just doesn’t throw these things together, he has sketch pads, you know, inches thick and he’s got dozens of ‘em with s—you know, one sketch after another with just the tiniest little change in... in a design. And he’ll do it over and over and over again. And um, he can sit down and he’d say well, here’s what I can do and then he’ll draw it. And then he’ll say, well here’s what they did and then here’s what this guy would do and then he’d say but then you can do this. And there are so many different ways to interpret these designs and these works of art. That’s why his work is so important and because when he focuses on something, he’s able to find the essence that makes it alive, that makes it the sharp, crisp image that it is. Restating...