Morning here Woody,
Must confess my first impression of the Red Mallee piece it appeared to resemble Boudicca I thought very tastefully carved then the perspective changed into a lovely double , four way turned piece of great quality using one of my favourite burls Red Mallee. The tyrany of distance and freight makes it all the more precious. My mate the timber getter big time Burl cutter wholesaler tells me its getting hard to reach, find, cut , cost, handle. As a product it takes quite a lot of care initially very prone to splitting subject to lots of stresses for example he is almost careless with Brown Mallee but would never leave Red out in the sun ever. This Burl man lives 5 mins from me he exports large shipments to America. It has to be debarked, sprayed, carefully packed and is sold wet so he weighs it wringing wet with bark on thats how it is sold.
Me nowadays I dont buy Mallee wet takes years to dry naturally in large form I have seen two ton burls, they earn their money IMHO.
Your both creations have evolved following carefull thought and preparation an extreme pucker factor IMHO displaying great courage the flying wing on the black one has provided you with a guided missile to cut and turn as well as the Mallee edges to be avoided at all cost. All factors few people would ever know how much care you put into these two, I do and salute you.
Kind regards Peter.