Ever since he was a boy and used to watch his neighbor shop and watch him work, Mark Hollerud of Austin has been intrigued with the art of woodworking.

“I was too young to use the equipment,” Hollerud said.

His interest, however, started a life of woodworking.

Now, at 32, Hollerud’s artistic ability with wood fuels another art, music. Though he’s employed as a cabinet worker in Austin, his current pastime is fixing violins violas, cellos, basses and other variations of fiddles. That’s something he took an interest in during his sophomore year at Austin High School. After learning how to play the fiddle when he was younger, Hollerud decided to build his own fiddle in shop class. From there, he followed his interest to Red Wing Technical College for stringed instrument repair — specifically violins.

Now, he hopes to make a career out of making different fiddles and repairing them. After spending two years in Utah and some time working in the Twin Cities doing instrument repair, Hollerud has come to the point where he’s ready to launch his own business: Fiddlecat’s Violin Repair.

He doesn’t plan to completely leave the industry of cabinet making, however. In fact, he loves that, too. Every time he gets too far removed from cabinet making, he misses it. However, there’s just something about the stringed instruments; the curvatures, angles and artforms from wood that pique Hollerud’s interest more.

“I don’t think I would miss the cabinets as much as I would miss the string work,” he said if he was forced to choose one.

Inside his home, Hollerud has set up his own shop, complete with cabinets that he handcrafted himself and a menagerie of tools. There, Hollerud has several repair projects underway, along with several fiddles that are nearly built. Years of tweaking tiny pieces of wood, carving and shaving have taught Hollerud how to make fiddles quite a bit better than the first one he produced in high school.

“It’s definitely a long way from here,” he said, as he held the modest pieces of wood that composes his first fiddle.

Cello, bass, viola and even mandolin repair and handcrafting aren’t out of the question, either.

“I’m definitely not afraid of cellos and basses,” Hollerud said, and added he likes the challenge of working with all sizes of instruments.

Even Hollerud’s cabinets have been gaining praise and may be featured in an upcoming edition of American Woodworking magazine. Among his collection of tools, cabinets and templates, Hollerud hopes to start a website, as well.

Anyone interested in getting a fiddle repaired or built by Hollerud may contact him at 438-9428 or thefiddlecat@yahoo.com.