Mountain Dulcimer
"The Gryphon"

Original design based on the J. E. Thomas dulcimer housed in the Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C. The top is 125+ year old Douglas fir salvaged from a Portland, Oregon, warehouse. The sides and back are black walnut with flamed maple binding. The head and tailpiece are also black walnut. The fingerboard is salvaged pine with a black walnut fretboard lamination, and the tuning pegs are hand-carved maple.

I've always been interested in gargoyle sculptures and reading about the legends of mythological beasts and characters. In the earliest complete publication of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Sir John Tenniel created some of the greatest illustrations to appear in the 140+ years Alice has been around. One wonderful illustration is of a resting gryphon, which was the inspiration for my head carving.