I made this vase for a veterans art show and here are my  thoughts on it's description. As veterans our lives haven't taken a straight path to  where we are now but we have taken unexpected twists and turns and that is signified by the grain. We have had our share of hard times and scars and that is signified by the bark inclusions. Some of our combat veterans have seen unspeakable horrors and have been left with holes in their souls that is signified by the voids. But when you look at it as a whole it is a thing of beauty, just like our veterans.