Walters Carving

I had this potpourri bowl with a pewter lid that my wife picked up for me from somewhere.  The lid is destined for a wooden bowl that I'll turn (or have - she's since picked up a couple more) but that left me with this glass bowl.  She asked if I could make some sort of candle holder using the glass bowl ... and out of that was born this idea.   It's a fairly simple carving, but it takes a long time to do.  I turned the basic shape, and then hand carved each stone, the windows, and the door.  I haven't had much experience in painting carvings, but I had fun with this one.  Below is a detail shot of the lichen/moss I added to the carving with paint.  I used acrylics. 

This piece was started probably two years ago.  Over time I kept coming back to it and carving on it slowly, changing ideas as I saw things I liked in other carvings or changing how I carved a detail as I learned better how to carve them.  For instance, I think the roof and shingles have been carved 3 times.  I wasn't overly happy with it, but decided to push through it.  It actually was about 5 inches taller with a longer ladder.  The ladder broke, and I got this idea to cut it off right above where the ladder broke creating a house that sortof looked like it belonged sticking up out of the water.  I added the boat and brought it to a finish.