Ever since we created “Big Red Lips” last winter, we have wanted to do more faces for walls.  We had several cut-off pieces (hair, eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth) that were sanded down, but they waited and waited, getting shifted around the shop while we worked on other projects.  Finally, their time came.  We rediscovered one final piece of quality Hawaiian Koa veneer and knew we had the facial structure/backdrop we had been looking for.   Three sides of the veneer were kept in the original cut-off state in which we acquired it.  The fourth side had a crack in it that we needed to get rid of and wouldn’t you know, doing the bare minimum trimming of that side yielded a perfect likeness of a face, from the strong cheek bone all the way down to the jaw line.  Cool.  Especially considering we didn’t see it while doing the trimming.  Once we had our foundation, we added hair, eyebrows and nose of Cocobolo, African Sapele eyes, and a quirky White Ash mouth, all pieces cut away from completed projects just as we did with the Big Red Lips face.  Still he needed something more.  A little more color.  We gave him blue eyes with little glass beads but that wasn’t enough.  After some experimentation we decided to pierce his eyebrow to add more flair and color.  His piercing is a copper wire with three colored beads, adding to his air of mystery.

 

The piece is finished with multiple coats of satin, oil and urethane hand rubbed finish.  Mystery Man measures 14” tall x 9” wide by 1 1/2” deep, and comes with a picture hanger already attached to the back.  All you need is a nail.