The makings of this western cross happened by complete accident, but what a great gift it made for my wife.

My daughter got a new computer aided design program. She was playing with it to learn all of the new things she could do and as she was playing she drew the design for this cross. I came to see her in her office and she was showing me her new program and some of the neat things that it could do when I noticed her drawing. I immediately thought of how great this would be to do in wood. I had her make a few modifications to the design to make it more intarsia friendly and print it for me.

My wife is always very supportive and involved in what I am making and the projects that I am doing, so this makes it hard to do anything to surprise her. My wife had to go out-of-town for a conference and I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to make this piece for her. As soon as I dropped her off at the airport, I headed straight to my local wood supplier to pick out the perfect types of wood to be used. I picked ash, bloodwood, and mesquite. I picked the ash and mesquite because the grains in the wood add so much character to the piece. I picked the bloodwood because of its rich color. I decided to layer the crosses and star instead of doing a flat piece to give it more dimension and stand out.

When my wife returned from her trip, I had this waiting for her. She was very surprised and loved that it fit in with the décor of our home. Since, I have been asked to recreate this piece for a few clients. It’s funny how an accidental drawing could lead to such a beautiful piece.