the craft of veneer selection is not merely understood but deeply felt. Memphis, a city whose musical and design heritage is built on the interplay of light and dark, rhythm and improvisation, finds in Black Limba a natural kinship—those grey to nearly black streaks coursing through golden brown heartwood echo the same dynamic tension that animates the city's creative identity. Where Medina's workshops might prize consistency and quiet grain, Memphis artisans lean into the drama, selecting sheets where the darker figuring runs boldest and the contrast between heartwood and pale greyish-brown sapwood becomes a deliberate compositional choice. Rosebud's ability to supply flitches with this range—from subtly veined to emphatically figured—means that a single Memphis studio can pull material for an entire commission while knowing that each leaf will darken and deepen with age, a quality that carries particular weight as we follow the veneer further to the design-forward ateliers of Menlo Park, where