Preparing Wood Slices For Artwork

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A customer brought me in three wood slices, about 1 1/2" to 2" thick, he cut recently from a sugar maple tree.
They are fairly dry around the edges, but the middle 80% feels damp.
I'll probably be painting with oils, or maybe a collage of some sort, not carving.

How dry do these need to be before I start working with them and what's the best/easiest way for me to do this?

Thanks!
:)

oops! Almost forgot the photo...

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I have tried drying wood slices with no luck they always split. Does any one know how to dry them without spliting
 
I have tried drying wood slices with no luck they always split. Does any one know how to dry them without spliting
 
I have tried drying wood slices with no luck they always split. Does any one know how to dry them without spliting
Thanks for the input. They have been on that bench since I took the photo - drying out, getting rained on, drying out.... I keep forgetting to bring them in after they dry out some.
I wonder if putting them in a low oven for several hours would work? Or maybe just setting them outside on sunny days? I have them standing on end and turn them occasionally so they dry evenly - then they get rained on again. :D
 
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They haven’t pie cracked? [emoji15]

Stuff I’ve cut, even long dead and ‘dry’ has cracked by the next day.
 
Tnt and ceptor , I have read that end grain of wood dries from 10 to 50 times faster than side grain .
The method is to wrap it in newspaper or a paper bag and stand it on edge .
TnT check your private messages .
Mine were on end, and maybe the process of rain/dry/rain/dry helped delay the cracking a bit.
I have them in a warm oven right now to get them good and dry, then I'll decide if they're worth my time. If so, I'll brush on some gesso to hide the cracks, then paint... actually, come to think of it, this might be a perfect project for my encaustic paints!
I'll let you know if anything good comes of them.
Thanks for the advice.
 
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