ॐ Instruments Infused with custom meaning, design, and tunings, each instrument that I create is a unique work of art. Scroll below to learn about my journey crafting harps and view images of my work. If you wish to see my newest works first, click here to jump to the bottom.

In the Beginning We were Wild Spirits, often gathering under our eldest tree to be with the sun before it set behind the blue ridges of the Appalachian mountains. One warm summer eve of 2016, a strange and beautiful object slowly descended from above and eclipsed the mountain view. It was a finely crafted stringed instrument with the resonance chamber of a gourd. My first strum filled my heart with peace and wonder, and the fundamental design excited the artist and musician in me to create. Inspired by this new instrument known as the Kamala N'goni, I set the intention to make one, and soon found myself synchronistically aligned with the materials necessary to do so. Later that week, as a wilderness therapy guide, I brought my group of clients to help a 95 year old man cultivate vegetables for the community at his farm. At the end of the day, I walked by his barn and noticed dozens of gourds hanging in nets. When I asked about his plans for them, he winked and jokingly replied: "Giving them to you, silly!" And so it was, I was gifted my first collection of Calabash gourds to craft with. The following summer I carved into my first gourd and began the journey. As I took a few humble steps forward, I met a worldly brother at a Singing Alive gathering named Eric Mandala, that happened to be travelling with several N'gonis. When I shared my excitement about making one, he told me that he had spent time in Africa learning to build and play these instruments from the roots up. After the gathering, he visited my workshop and shared techniques that helped me to overcome a few major learning curves, easing the growing pains that can only be learned through experience and practice. Through patience and persistence, I crafted my first N'goni harp. I made my second N'goni to experiment with different tunings and themes, and soon after, started receiving requests for commission pieces. I have since brought many harps to life, ranging from the 10 and 12 stringed N'goni, to a 24 stringed Kora. Each instrument is meditatively crafted and embedded with meaning, symbols, imagery, and gems significant to myself and the people that receive my art. I thank all that have supported me through the process of evolving my art and life in a good way.

Flower of Life I remember laying upon the earth in the winter, watching perfect 6 pointed snowflakes drift through the air and land upon me. I imagined them joining together as the ocean, and what that may look like. Many seasons later, the ancient symbol of creation and interconnectedness known as the flower of life came into my awareness. I chose this geometry to be the gateway from which sound is birthed from my first 12 stringed N'goni.

Druid My second N'goni was an exploration into my Celtic kin. I saw myself as a mystic druid, walking between worlds through the misty forest, learning what I could to live in right relations with all spirits of nature. The Celtic trinity knot came into my vision for the sound hole. I set Moss Agate into the neck and burned 3 connected merkabas into the bridge.

Dreamweaver I wove a dream web as the sound hole for my 3rd N'goni. Kundalini ascends the bridge towards a Mohawk dream stone embedded in the Ajna chakra, the throne of imagination.

Heart Nature My 4th N'goni was made for wilderness guide Anthony Antonecchia, to serenade the heart centered nature path that he walks.

Trinity This was my first Maple neck, of which I detailed with red earth and embedded 3 strips of selenite into it. The sound hole is surrounded by a burned ring of Celtic trinity knots. This 10 stringed harp is my 5th n'goni, inspired by Kennedy Oneself.

Durga In honor of the divine feminine, I made an altar of flowers and lit a candle for Navratri 2019. I designed my 6th N'Goni with Durga in heart, using her Yantra as the sound hole. Inspired by Jan Michael of Ritual Reset, Flagstaff.

Sri Harmony In exchange for a season living in a solar cabin amidst the beautiful land of Harmony Garden, I created my 7th N'goni for the family that tends the land there. Rose quartz, present on their wedding ceremony altar, is embedded into the neck. The Sri Yantra, a complex mystical diagram depicting the vibration of masculine and feminine union, is burned into the body.

I-Ching For my 8th N'goni, the Aum symbol ॐ holds the strings that rise up the chakras to the crystalline crown of quartz. Celtic trinity knots spin around the sound hole, where vibrations pass through the 64 hexagrams of the I-Ching.

Quetzalcoatl Kora Inspired by MesoAmerican mysticism, the Mayan calendar, Hunab Ku, and the Plumed Serpent. A vision held for many years came to life and sang it's first song in 2024, the year of the Wood Dragon. This is the 24 stringed Quetzalcoatl Kora. Photos by MinYan Zhu. Quetzalcoatl is a consciousness that embodies the balanced wisdom of the birds that fly and know the heavens above, as well as the snakes that hold and know the earth below. There is a Temple in the House of Flowers where the Plumed Serpent is etched into stone. The temple etchings served as a model, and I carved the plumed serpent into the handholds. I envision this instrument traveling to Mexico, to this temple, and serenading the spirits of the land.

Yuè Crafted for Yuè, the spirit of the moon and it's phases, the 12 stringed Moon'Goni is my 10th harp. It features Purple Heartwood for the neck, lunar phases burned around the sound hole, and a moonstone set as the full moon. Commissioned and photographed by MinYan Zhu.

Magdalene+Christos Kora Commissioned in 2025, my 11th harp gestated in the womb of creation for 9 months while I focussed my field of awareness through christian mysticism to bless this instrument into reality. It is said that a dove carried a freshly picked olive branch to Noah, signifying that the flood may have receded enough to return to land. One translation of linguistics that I found to be beautiful emphasizes that this realization, upon seeing the dove, came after a deep feeling of sorrow for the olive branch that had broke, for he saw how sacred and precious life is. I felt this as I honored the elements that I worked with to bring this instrument to life. The old local maple tree that had fallen to become the neck and hand holds, the skin that once embraced a goat, farmers that live their lives tending the garden and showing up at markets so that I can obtain their gourds, metals and minerals that were mined and torn from the foundation of earth… I pray that these things were harvested in a good way, and with them, I shall create good things. From this prayer, a dove flew from my heart and perched above the sound hole with its olive branch. Beneath the dove is the seed of life, faithfully planted in the soil of our ancestors, a prayer to produce the fruits of wisdom that truly nourishes community. “Whatever a man sows, so shall he reap.” (Galatians 6:7) Meadows that roll beyond where eyes can see, unfold from believing in a single mustard seed. Blossoming below the seed of life, the rose lineage surrounds and protects the flowers and sacred seeds of its garden with fierce thorns. “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing.” (Isaiah 35) The hexagram, also known as the star or shield of David, is a geometry that represents the merging of opposites, equilibrium, masculine and feminine union, a two dimensional representation of the merkaba, and the seed geometry of the fabric of spacetime. I chose this symbol to be at the nexus point, where the 4 directions meet upon the crosses that one holds to play this instrument. Within the center of these geometries are embedded moon stones. I am grateful for the journey of bringing this instrument into existence. In the light of masculine and feminine divine union, may its vibrations bless all that receive them.

Each instrument that I make is a unique manifestation, a spiritual journey through which I witness the evolution of my art and being unfold. I thank the roots of these instruments, the roots of creation, all my relations, and all the support and inspiration that arises for me to create. If you appreciate my craft and would like to inquire about ordering a custom instrument, contact me and describe your desire and vision. Portal to the Beginning