This single piece of southwestern scrub oak wood was collected from the mountains outside of Tucson. It represents one of the larger pieces I have worked on. The reptile was added during a later stage in time, at which point the focus of effort natural migrated to overall form. Many internal imperfections were uncovered during the development of this piece, adding a factor of challenge that always needs to be anticipated working with large wood logs. Nevertheless, I was able to incorporate the imperfections to enhance the overall piece. This wood when polished has almost an iridescent depth of richness. The reptile was enhanced with color and markings replicating a diamondback rattlesnake, surprisingly making some
anti-reptilians a bit squeamish.