I love cherry!!!!!

I am getting ready to begin working on an Acanthus style wall clock I was commisioned to do for the annual San Gabriele benefit in february. I was going to go ahead and use basswood as usual but my father in law suggested Maple. He had a scrap piece in the workshop and although it is beautiful, it was harder than hell. Becuase of the deadline I decided working with the maple would take too long so back to basswood.
"how about cherry?" my father in law suggested.
Now, cherry is not only gorgeous but also very expensive. He happened to have a scrap piece in the shop. I started carving through it and although it's hard, the cherry wasnt as hard as the maple. I fell in love. It carves beautifully and despite the hardness of it, i found it easy to work with and very forgiving. The beautiful grain makes it easy to carve the right direction. I kept slicing away at it and after a couple of hours, i made a relief flower. Ill post the acanthus clock soon. Because time is of the essence I will use basswood for this project and then later I'll make another with cherry!