"Roonbone" Elder wood 19.25 inch length Large sized wand. Elder wood, organic resins, ornate rose filigree on handle with real 23 karat gold detail, simulated bone finish, faceted red crystal on pommel, matte varnish. Status: for sale (inquire)
Unless otherwise noted, all of my wands are hand made from wood or woody herbs. This base material is always specified. Many use various precious, semi-precious, or non-precious elements such as cabochons, crystals, gold leafing, metal wire, organic resins as well as acrylic finishing pigments and varnishes.
Each wand is given a name; sometimes this is the most difficult part for me. If you want to know more about any given wand, its name, or anything else, just ask!
You mention that this is made from both elder wood and organic resins (among the others, but my question does not concern them): How much of the overall shape is from carving, and how much is built up from resins?
It varies from wand to wand of course, but the shape of the wood generally accounts for the majority of the shape. I seek to find branches, roots, or pieces of driftwood which have a nice natural form or taper to begin with, and use its shape to inspire me as to the final design. In the case of this particular wand, I would say that it is about 90% wood; the twisting pattern is partially natural, partially carved, and partially built up by resin. Much of the pattern on the grip is built up from resin, as well as gold details. I intentionally left the bulk of this wand rough-cut rather than sanding it smooth in order to give it an ancient, raw textured look.
Thank you! I am very lucky to have a continuous supply of Elder wood, thanks to my neighbors. They had an Elder tree that they cut down several years ago since it had become diseased. However, the roots were apparently quite healthy still since it continues to send up new shoots each year with great vigor. These shoots grow quick and straight. My neighbors continually prune them back, and rather than send these shoots to the fire heap I rescue them for wand making. The down side to working with Elder is that it has a peculiar odor (not terribly bad, but not exactly pleasant either). After a while you get used to the unusual smell, though. Once I'm done the wands have no trace of odor from the Elder wood; the drying and varnishing make certain of that.