The Wheat Cabinet
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The Wheat Cabinet is made from alder wood with a door panel of butternut. The crown and base of the cabinet have been stained with a walnut stain, and the whole is finished with shellac and wax finish. The door panel is covered with a dark brown glaze on the outside, and the carving into the glaze reveals the light colored wood beneath. The inside of the door panel is stained with walnut stain. The cabinet is 29.5" (75 cm) tall, 16" (40.6 cm) wide, and 9" (23 cm) deep.
The panel in the door is an homage to life, as symbolized by the wheat, the staff of life. But our wheat fields also grow a variety of weeds, as symbolized by the undergrowth around the wheat stalks, and our wheat supports a whole system of life apart from our own, as represented by the mouse. So this panel reminds us that we are inevitably just a small part of a large ecosystem that supersedes the control we sometimes imagine that we have, and this whole system, therefore, is the subject of this homage to life.
And for those who remember Goodnight Moon, "Where's the little mouse???"