Ubax Qurux Badan

Description

Ubax Qurux Badan – "Beautiful Flower" (Somali) – is a marquetry art piece and is part of Natasha's Portraits collection.

This portrait cameo is made of walnut burl with a sapele background.  These woods are very technically challenging to work with.  Due to the unusual circular grain pattern, walnut burl is crumbly and dry.  Sapele has a very consistent grain but with weak cohesion.  When cutting complex curves or points through sapele it often splinters.

As rough pieces, walnut and sapele are similar in colour and it takes experience to understand how they will change through the finishing process.  The finished piece has a warm glow and a rich texture.