Turning turned UGLY!!

I've been turning for a while but I've never run into this problem before!
I was turning a sopping wet piece of magnolia. It had a pale yellow color and thin, purple rings.
It looked fantastic. I turned it thin and let it dry by putting it in a paper bag in a cabinet with no air circulation.
After a week or so, it was completely dry. It warped, as I hoped it would and didn't crack (YAY!!).
However, it looks, well, dirty! I'm so disappointed I don't even know if I want to finish it.
Any thoughts/ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
S~
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Steve I think when you finish it you will be surprised how it will look. It looks pretty good but you may need to do some more sanding. I think you did a great job on it.

Steve, just an idea. If you have any other scrap from the magnolia, you might want to try different finishes to see which brings out the most interesting colors. I am guessing what you have is a stunningly beautiful piece that looks dry because it is.

I believe it grew mold. That's not unusual for some woods if you bag a rough out and neglect to swap bags every day or two for a while but I'm surprised it happened to such a thin piece. You can try bleaching it with wood bleach but that will remove all the color. Sorry that happened, you did a really good job of thin turning.
faust

It looks good to me. Get it finished and call it good....... Is that a glue block in the second picture?.......... Jerry (in Tucson)

You got a fungal stain from the wet wood., You might try coloring the wood, could look really sharp in some bright color.

If you don't like how the wood has darkened, you could ebonize the piece (I like feibings black leather die) and finish with a high gloss for a very modern looking piece. Just my two cents.

I meant "dye"...sheeesch...

Putting it in the bag, made it mold and discolor, I wood have not used the bag, it trapped the moisture, also was there a temp above 50 degrees. Being thin you did not need a bag. cool dry place.

One more thing I have done, is to put it in the refrigerator , temp is down, so mold won't grow, and it will dry out in there. Then if you wanted to use the bag, go for it, but the bag is not necessary.

I don't know what it looked like before but I think it is a nice piece. As others have mentioned I think you were admiring it when it was wet because that made the grain pop and now that it's dry it looks flat to you. I think once you get a finish on it it may bring the grain back out. Either way I think its far from ugly!

Some good suggestions above. For sure you need to finish it-it's a really cool turning!