You can carve and paint it when it hardens. Thanks to Bob Lowe for this tip. Pick up some acrylic paste from any art supply store. It can be colored to match any wood, using acrylic paints. It can be carved and sanded like wood and will take any finish you wish Often logs or even large blocks of wood develop checks from drying stress.
Checks often develop in the most undesirable places.
The usual remedy of pushing in glue and sawdust mixture doesn't work well. Try putting in the glue first. Work the glue down into the checks with a thin knife blade, then sprinkle the area with sawdust and work it into the check. The crevice will be more deeply filled. When air drying wood , make sure you separate the layers of wood with a stringer so that air can circulate between the layers.