Tony! I just knew you were holding back on us ;-) Terrific to see something new from you and it's a beaut as always.
Can I ask how long a piece of art like this takes you to do… from concept to completion? I should say, how long does the idea take and how long for the actual building and finishing? I think that would be an interesting piece of info. Size info would be great too. Thanks for posting this and I look forward to seeing more of your work!
Thank you for the kind words.The box is 14.5cm square by 10 cm deep (approximately). It is finished with a blend natural wood oils, the base oil is Tung Oil.
As to the making time, difficult to say. I sketch / draw my work onto the block, to do something completely new involves the extensive use of a pencil rubber (eraser) until it seems to be workable. The finishing and fine finishing is probably the largest time consumer, particular with this box because of the multiple layers involved. I am guessing when I say there is something like 45 hours invested in this work, but who is counting when one does not get paid for that part of the job!
I'm impressed with how much your pieces have increased in difficulty and, at the same time, improved in quality. Your artistic skills have really matured since those early boxes that you showed on the Aussie woodworking forum. Of course, none of this came without lots of sweat equity - 45 hours - very impressive.