Lush Tannamar

Lush Tannamar started as half of an old branch of cedar laying in the hot sun in the Texas Hill Country. I had located the branch just a few weeks prior during a summer vacation -- or "wand hunting spree," as I like to call it. I regret not taking a picture of the full piece before I cut it two but since I did not, here's a photo of the two pieces, fresh from the sawing.

Don't worry. The parts wanted to be separated. (The full piece was almost 33 inches, too long to be a single wand) Despite the grayed exterior bark, the interior is a healthy honey-blonde hardwood.

The ends are in less good shape, but not completely cracked. Often the two or three inches of a found branch will be split nearly in two, and sometimes only discovered during the shaping process. In this case, I chose to work with the half that the end that was more intact, on the left in this photo:

The end wood is a bit feathered but there's no cracking so I decide to keep that part of the branch in its original form ... or, at least as much of it as possible. As seen here, the end is nearly two inchese thick. It will need to be trimmed down to fit comfortably in the palm of its wielder's hand. In fact, the entire half branch was at least an inch and a half thick, heavy, thick and very close to straight. I worked through various designs until I found one I liked the most:

While the final shape stands out on its own, I wanted to add at least one enhancement to fill the small knot just above the top of the spiral. A 10 mm round amethyst cabochon was the detail that brought Lush Tannamar to life. I'd purchased the gem in the Spring from a traveling show, and the pair were (was?) a perfect fit.

Here's the closer look at the final form of the feathered wood at her base:

She's sharp and brilliant, a protector, a fighter and a guide even when all else is turbulence and harm.

Available on Etsy.