Mike drafted up several different possible designs and ideas for the rosette. In my April visit he showed me the direction he was headed, and I really liked what he had come up with. It had elements of both elegance and a playful stylistic subtlety that will be only noticeable to those of us who look closely at the details in our custom guitars.
One thing that my wife does not like - who is not really otherwise engaged in my guitar "habit" - is the use of shell, whether pearl or abalone, in any color, as part of the inlays. That's one reason she's always liked my Baraniks - Mike does wonderful things with wood inlays.
First shot is of the basic form and materials, and you can see one of the reference pictures that Mike used as "inspiration" (my definition of "inspired by" is in an earlier post...). The second is the design with more detail added. The leaf and lily theme will be inlaid in VERY small pieces into the rosette.
Note these are being inlaid into some leftover pieces of the "tree" back and sides.
The inlays complete, and ready for removal and inlaying as a single piece into the tops.