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Dubova came back and only started looking into building instruments because he saw his father-in-law working on a kit. “I got into it and I’d gotten a kit but didn’t know anything about wood-working, I didn’t understand sandpaper, or how to use a chisel, basic wood things like grain runout,” says Dubova. “So maybe I should have started with making a bird box because I just started with the mandolin and it was pretty complicated. And the first one was really bad.” The whereabouts of this first piece is currently and forever unknown, unfortunately. “I knew I could do better, I had a bunch of ideas to keep trying. The second one I made was totally from scratch, everything on my own, cutting the lumber down, carving everything, and that was also really bad.
“But it was different, I went in a totally different direction and then I think I just got addicted and kept trying. I kept trying and trying. I’d figure one thing out but then something else would be really bad, so on the next one I knew I had to fix both of those things.” From start to finish, every decision Dubova makes in the construction process is done for a reason. “It all starts from raw lumber and I get to mill it down and look for grain patterns that might compliment the flow of whatever instrument.” And almost like an homage to his hometown, he uses wood that can be found right in our backyard. “I think it’s neat if you can use woods that are from the Blue Ridge mountains. There’s so much potential in these forests, using Maple, Oak, Walnut, Sycamore, Poplar, all things that are domestic and in Virginia forests that are overlooked. I want to be true to where I’m from and the forests around us,” says Dubova. “I want there to be visible imperfections or visual disturbances throughout a piece that kind of make you stop and really look at it and not just briefly glimpse at it. Some of them reflect different thoughts I’ve had about things or current situations in the world. “If I do what speaks to me as far as an idea, there’s somebody out there that will also get it.” Turns out, Dubova’s work speaks to a lot of folks. continued on page 22
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Blue Ridge LIFE
OCTOBER 2017