A YELLOW ROSE FOR FRIENDSHIP

41578                   41666                  41898
12-26-15              12-27-15             1-19-16
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THE YELLOW ROSE

I was asked to carve a yellow rose for a Christmas gift for "Friendship."

This was another challenge but I enjoyed the knowledge I gained

from carving a rose with leaves, a thorn and
turning a rectangle piece of wood into an oval shape.

Sometimes I wondered if I bit off too much but I am satisfied with the results.
The wood for the base (spalted hack berry) was provided by

 Kevin Church - Tallgrass Custom Wood Products - Emporia, KS

  

It just takes a block of wood.

The wood for this rose had been stored in our garage for 20 years or more.

It was hard and very dry.  

I prepared the block of wood, which was cut roughly for a rose, by spraying it with water and alcohol, wrapping it and putting it in the refrigerator.

I hadn't prepared my wife.  She saw this in our refrigerator and took it out to see what it was.  After unwrapping it slightly, she saw that it was a block of wood, took a picture of what she might find in her refrigerator and put it back in for a couple of weeks

 Getting it out of the refrigerator after a soaking in the alcohol and water -

wrapped in a rag, I am ready to begin carving.

My wife walked by our Anri Wood Carved Nativity Scene and saw this branch.
She picked it up to examine it and wondered what the connection was.

No connection!  I had to go out to our rose bush and cut off a twig to see how to carve a thorn. 

Learning something new.
I needed an oval base and had a rectangle board.

I'm not a carpenter - nor a mathematician -  but I did learn through Google.  

I watched a Youtube and succeeded.

Whew!  Success!

The person that received this as a gift chose to hang it on her wall
and had the "Friendship" plaque attached at the top. 
These photos show a difference in the lighting.