Project Completion - Gold+Chrysoprase into wood, (pic heavy) Options

[swizz]

Live Edge Slab Table - Ute Cache
44L" x 21W" x 21H"

Dahhhh.... Just look at the pics and read this later if you're interested.
This table will be used primarily as ornate but also for fly tying and flyrod construction.
This project took me more hours than I care to admit.

'Ute Cache' - Certainly open to interpretation. I'm well aware that the history of Utes vs Settlers/Miners was a bit volatile, especially in my neck of the woods.... that's not what this piece is about.

The Slab (1.5" thick):
The slab top (Curly Sugar Maple) was purchased from a wood vendor in Ohio and shipped. It was rough, kiln dried, edged with its original bark, and a nice straight piece to work with. It's obvious flaws were four large knots, one of which was an elliptical hole filled with sap and bark.... this is what I envisioned as "The Eddy Pool". The other three knots each had large splits that ran through the slab.
The three 'typical' knot splits were filled (painstaking 1/16" layer at a time) with a crystal clear 2-part Polyamine Epoxy (very hard and crystal clear but slightly flexible after cure). I then painted the bottom of each split black. So.... when you look at the splits from the top of the table they are 3D. You can see all the way to the bottom of them with great detail, interesting effect that is virtually impossible to photograph. Another interesting feature of the table was the profile that looks (to me) like an Indian or Native American. I thought this was pretty freaky... so I went with it. The profile is what it is, I have not modified its shape.... it's a natural occurrence in the wood, related to the angle of the slice and shape of tree.

The Eddy Pool (difficult to photograph):
This is the elliptical knot containing two Sterling Silver Cutthroat Trout (exceptionally lifelike painted by an award winning fish taxidermist Freestone Fine Art), buncha Gold, black sands with Quartz, Pyrope Garnet, and a Chrysoprase streambed (Chrysophrase alternate spelling). The knot was filled with bark, sap, and dirt. Possibly a squirrel or two living there during the course of its life. Once I cleaned it out I was left with the beautiful naturally rounded wood features seen in the pic. To me.... I envisioned it a mineral rich, undiscovered, swirly eddy pool containing exposed bedrock and all the goodies (hey, a man can dream can't he?). I chose Chrysoprase for the streambed #1 because it's highly translucent and the perfect color and, #2 because it can be found in Colorado. I purchased a small lot of Chrysoprase from a guy in Colorado. They were rough slices approximately 10mm thick (average) and many different shapes/sizes. I puzzle-pieced them together under the elliptical knot to create the streambed. Next.... the slices went to GoldBarnstormer (Jeff) for a little lap work so they'd fit together tight. He also milled them down to a uniform 4mm to aid in translucency. Jeff did an excellent job, thank you! The effect is beyond what I expected. The streambed receives enough natural light from below to cause a somewhat 'glowing' effect from the top looking into the pool. I finished the feature off with an ornate Maple cover-plate routed to fit the Chrysoprase and keep it firmly in place. Once this was done, I began filling the pool (again, painstaking 1/16" at a time with 24hr cure between mixes). Placing the Gold and goodies was a lot of fun I must admit. The two Trout are suspended at different depths and look freaky-real, but again, this feature was difficult to photograph (due to flaring from surface glare). I filled the pool to the surface (1/16" at a time) then poured the entire top with the 2-part Polymine (challenging). The final finish is crystal-clear, about 1/16"-1/8" thick, and impervious to water and alcohol. The two shelves received the same treatment. I used different stains in the knotty void to achieve the look I wanted within the Eddy Pool in an effort to replicate bedrock. Most of the fine Gold came from my primitive back-breaking shovel/hand sluice mining. Much of the larger colors came from Dan & Denise's CP cons. I did my very best to make sure all of the Gold in the pool is from Colorado (mostly by color separation and some help from Dan). Is it 100% Coloraddy Gold? I think so... only my hairdresser knows for sure (I shave my head regularly).

The Base
The beetle-kill Pine crotch base is sentimental to me. It was cut by a former log home client of mine who unexpectedly passed away (heart attack) shortly after I completed a chinking project on his home. His name was Ron DeFore. He was a Vietnam USMC veteran and one of the kindest people you could ever imagine meeting. When my chinking project was finished we remained friends. He offered me all the wood I wanted from his property as he was clearing beetle-kill Pine. He'd cut it all to length and piled it for me to come and get. Hell... he even let me use his nice trailer to haul it all! Anyway, this chunk was from one of his wood piles and turned out to fit perfectly for my purposes. R.I.P Ron, you're missed.

Here are some pics, it may take a couple posts to fit them in this thread... bear with me. This was a difficult photography session as the surfaces are highly reflective. I used indoor studio equipment with umbrellas, soft & hard light sources, and black people-popper background.
"click to enlarge" for better detail if you're interested, the bandwidth compression was not kind to the thumbnails

Front


Back


Top (Chrysoprase artificially lit from below for effect in this image)


The Chief


Eddy Pool


pictorial continued.....

[swizz]

Thanks for the compliments and kind words you guys!!
I certainly could not have completed the project as envisioned without the collective help of those mentioned as well.

Denise, regarding the aquatic insects.... (forgive me if I ramble on a bit)
None of the aquatic insects can "sting" per se. They can however pinch with their mandibles. Damsel Nymphs are not cased. In all my years of encountering thousands of Damsel Nymphs I've only been pinched twice, it gets your attention. Damsels occur primarily in stillwaters (lakes or ponds). They crawl and swim (they are excellent swimmers) to the surface, shore, stick, anything, dry out and hatch into adults. I've had days out in my 1-man pontoon anchored in a lake..... looking down the acnchor rope and seeing a single-file like of Damsel Nymphs (as deep as I can see the rope) climbing upward and onto my boat. I've watched them emerge on my pontoons while I fish. If I'm not paying attention they'll be on my arms and neck before long, can barely feel them. Relatively large nymph though, over 1" long and slender. Normally olive or light green, sometimes light tan.

The cased nymphs that you're encountering are something completely different. Caddis, another (possibly most abundant) source of Trout food in the western states. Usually you'll see clusters of the cases attached to underwater sticks, rocks, basically everything underwater. They are very prolific and not as environmentally fussy as most aquatic insects. They live in streams as well as stilllwaters. Not swimmers but exceptional clingers and crawlers. Their beefy claw-like legs are designed for this as opposed to the longer skinny legs of Damsel (swimmer). The Arkansas is probably the most famous river in Colorado for epic Caddis hatches. Heck, Buena Vista even has a holiday celebrating the Mothers Day Caddis Hatch every year. I contemplated including clusters of the cased Caddis woodburned into my project base but decided not, can always add them later. Caddis spend 1 year underwater as a nymph. They make protective camo cases from whatever is available in the stream or lakebed. The cases are primarily spun with tree bark from tiny waterlogged twigs but I've seen many in certain areas made exclusively from gravel. As they grow underwater they shed cases and build new ones. Trout are keen to this and will go around eating them case and all... but when the hatch happens... ohhhhh mama, explosive action. Once the Caddis emerges into an adult it gets to experience one whole day of life above surface. During this time they mate, lay eggs on the water surface (which sink), then die. they can happen during the day or night and there are (MANY) different subspecies, sizes, and colors. I've never been pinched by a Caddis Nymph but they appear to have the tools and it might not surprise me if it were a larger one, would have to be more of a defense mechanism pinch. I've seen (tiny) empty Caddis cases in the CP placer dirts so I know you guys are encountering them with some regularity. Hard to avoid.. they're everywhere! beautiful little creature they are.
If you like Gold and know what a Caddis Nymph is capable of... you'll LOVE this:
A French artist captured a bunch of Caddis Nymphs and crated an aquarium environment. The nymphs were forced to construct cases from the only available materials. Well... he gave them some incredible materials to work with and they did all the work, stunningly I might add!
You gotta check this out: Incredible Caddis Cases

(sorry, I'm a bit of a bug nerd)

[Denise]

If you like Gold and know what a Caddis Nymph is capable of... you'll LOVE this:
A French artist captured a bunch of Caddis Nymphs and crated an aquarium environment. The nymphs were forced to construct cases from the only available materials. Well... he gave them some incredible materials to work with and they did all the work, stunningly I might add!
You gotta check this out: Incredible Caddis Cases

(sorry, I'm a bit of a bug nerd)

Fantastic information Chris thanks, and that link was great! I showed Timmy because he too was wondering what those were.
His jaw dropped when I showed him the pictures in that link.

He also thought you did a great job on the table. He didnt believe us at first that the eddy pool with the fish wasnt real.

[swizz]

He also thought you did a great job on the table. He didnt believe us at first that the eddy pool with the fish wasnt real.

hahaha, thanks Timmy!
I had a feeling you guys might like that link with the Gold Cased Caddis.... pretty neat experiment.