My long awaited return

Literally re-turning unfinished pieces ready for another Designers and Makers Market at the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate this December 14 and 15th.
This piece has a cheeky smile, like a model at a fashion show, showing off her hat!
Turned several years ago from a very green piece of field maple, stored in the rain after felling the tree in our back garden. After a couple of years, I discovered some interesting discolouration was occurring, so I took it to the lathe. It was still quite wet and liable to warping or splitting so I put it aside until last week.
The ‘hat’ is bubinga with an ebano support, it’s a kind of cheeky design leaving the form precarious and unbalanced. It must be leaning, close to falling and the spalted patterning suggests faces and expressions almost recognisably human. The hat can be turned, and the head tilted into numerous postures.