Functional art / coat rack

[woodchips4u]

Recently I have been pre-occupied with doing a relief project. To date I have tried a couple of spoons, name tags and a barn silo scene but there is this burn inside me that says I want to do something that not only looks good but has a daily function and can be touched and used . . . not just admired from a distance.

I have read (and kid Mark about) Grinling Gibbons' work and I am in awe by the detailing and pure form attained . . what . . . 400 years ago with a mallet and chisle? Wow!

So I thought something similar in a standing 4x4 post coat rack, relief carved down all 4 sides. (Apples, fruit, vines, birds, lycanthus etc.) My question is. . . seeing as I am likely to go to the lumber yard to pick out this beam . . . and seeing as it will likely be just carved and left natural . . . what would be a good wood selection for probably a rather deep relief in areas?

Red or Yellow Cedar? Hemlock (Fir)? Choices in the lumber yard are not usually very exotic around here.

Thanks

Larry