Heart Burn

This is the kind of piece that stops a room. Mel Johnson's hand-carved heart — pulled from salvaged mountain wood, shaped entirely by hand, and split open by a dramatic natural fissure filled with raw, rugged resin — hits with the force of something that has truly lived. The grain blazes amber and mahogany across its polished surface, while the dark volcanic seam running through its center transforms what could have been a flaw into the defining feature of the whole work. It doesn't hide its wound. It wears it. This is Folk Art and Conceptual Art fused into a single object you can hold — a sculptural statement about fracture, survival, and the beauty that lives inside broken things. No two pieces from Wildgoose Mountain Woodcrafts are alike; each begins as wood that already carried a life before Mel's hands ever touched it. That irreproducibility is exactly what drives collector value — and a carved heart like this, bold, emotionally charged, and technically masterful, is the kind of work that anchors a serious collection. Whether displayed on a mantle, a gallery shelf, or a collector's desk, this piece commands attention and conversation. It is raw, it is refined, and it is singular. Add it now — pieces like this don't stay available.