Mason & Risch Vocalion Reed Organ — Pipe Painting by Adrian Card

Ornamental pipe painting for an 1891 Mason & Risch Vocalion reed organ, restored for the Presbyterian Church in Redmond, Oregon.

This organ was built in 1891 by the Mason & Risch Company of Worcester, Massachusetts. Since it is a reed organ, the pipes are purely ornamental — the sound is produced by vibrating metal reeds, not by wind passing through pipes. A woodturner made the replacement pipes, and I painted them based on the designs from a similar organ of the period: bands of sage green and burgundy, with gold rosette medallions at the crowns of the larger pipes.

The instrument itself was restored by Jim Tyler, known as "The Reed Organ Man"; a more in-depth slide show about the restoration can be found on his site. The fully restored organ now resides in the Presbyterian Church in Redmond, Oregon, and the restoration was funded by the Redmond Oregon Historical Commission.