Napkin Holder

I had this highly figured piece of walnut sitting on a shelf for at least 25 years, it was about 3/4” thick and had cracks everywhere, but was so beautiful I couldn’t throw it away. I've been looking for a project where I could use this amazing piece of wood, and I finally found a use for it.  I saw a similar design on line and knew this was something this walnut was perfect for. I cut out most of the cracks and I was able to get just enough walnut to make this piece. I made the panel 5”x6” and then re-sawed it in half. I was able to get them a little more than 1/4” after sanding everything smooth. I mortised the base to hold the sides. I used OSMO for a finish, but the figured walnut didn’t pop like I had hoped. I then sprayed it with semi-gloss and the figure popped big time.

In hindsight I should have glued down the individual pieces better because a few shifted and messed up the spacing. I took several pics and it is hard to get an accurate picture as far as color goes. The last picture is shot with a flash and it looks fake. The others are without a flash and is much closer to what it looks like in person. They look completely different, the flash made the picture look strange because the figure is so exaggerated. I had to post it because I've never seen this happen. My wife loves it, so I’m happy.