Craftsmanship in Wood

For the past few months I have been working on a carving for a church in Indiana. I was given an approved drawing by the board of the church. The original plan was to use Poplar (or similar cheaper wood) and paint it. I convinced them to let me use different wood for the colors. I used Purpleheart, Padauk, Yellowheart, Oak, Poplar, Maple, Walnut, and Cherry. I also used gold and black paint for trim and lettering. The Purpleheart was very hard and I had to keep the chisels super sharp. The Padauk was difficult to plane because of ever changing grain. All the other woods worked without incident.
Although I would change a couple of things, I am happy with the outcome. The finished carving is 36" X 30" and about 5" thick.
You can see the entire process on my instagram account under paul_atzenweiler_.

This is the kind of work I could do every day, but it is hard to find clients who are willing to pay for custom work like this.

Gorgeous work Paul! I love the contrast of woods and textures...that purple heart ribbon is just absolutely stunning.

Super cool!!

Great work Paul!

Brian, my favorite part was the purpleheart scarf. In my opinion it is the most important part because it is the only part where I could give the piece movement. I'm sure for most of the people who see this the bible will be the most important part because it is in the center and has writing - eventhough who can read Hebrew anyway!

Wow. Beautiful work, Paul.
There should be more clients for this quality of work.

Fantastic, Paul. Bravo!

very well done Paul!

Wonderful work, bravo!