Practice piece
As the other carvers have replied, a one foot diameter tree is big enough for quite a variety of subject matter. If you want to have a carver with minimal experience do your carving, I would suggest having the carver do a carving of what you are looking for on a cut off piece of the same tree if that is feasable, if you are not familiar with the quality of their work.
By insect infestation, up here in Wisconsin,if you do not peel off the bark as soon as any of the pine variety dies, they become infested with wood borers. These are a white larvae, from 3/16" to 1/4" in diameter, that voraceously bore holes throughout the tree or log. This time of year, if you walk by stacked pulp logs ready to be trucked off of a landing, that have been cut and down for more than a few weeks, the sounds of the wood borers are very distinct.Simular to a classroom of preschoolers eating Captain Crunch cereal.
As said before, there is nothing wrong with carving wood that has dried for a year. On a personal note, after I have peeled the logs that I have aquired for future carving, I elevate them so there is no ground contact, paint the ends with "mistake" paint from our local paint store so the logs dry out more uniformly, and let them dry for a year.
After a year, they are much easier to handle,due to water weight loss. Also,the log has just started to crack, so you can put the predominant crack towards the back of the carving. This should be at the same stage your stump is at.I have done carvings at some charity carves where they supplied the wood, and as you carved you were getting sprayed with the moisture from the wood. In addition to being extremely heavy, as a carver I knew these carvings were going to excessivly crack. Not a good senario.
To preserve the stump after carving see the above info about the boride rods for base preservation. For the main carving, I have had good luck treating my carvings with Cabots Austrailian Timber Oil. Up here it is available in three different tones.
Another train of thought: If your local carver is "iffy" and you want a quality carving on your property, summer fair season is approaching. A lot of carvers work the county and state fair circuits. In addition to the fair work, a lot of them do commission on-sites between shows. It might be well worth your while to check out your options
You really do not say what level of carving you are looking for, so there are a lot of variables. if you want a simple "stump bear", just have him go for it.
At the very least you will have some fancy firewood. It wouldn't be the first time. -ken
