The effect the bark gives is great.
Just a thought, if you know any wood cutters in your area, get in touch with them and see if they would cut some rounds for you. Chances are they will have stuff from dead wood and most of the shrinking and cracking will be done, if it's cut from green living trees it will take a while to dry.
Most turners will rough out bowls then store them till they are dry by which time they will know if it's junk or workable. About 6 months minimum more realistically a year or more. So they do lots so they can have a continuous supply, there are many discussions on how to dry this stuff properly so I'm not going there, search around you'll find lots of info.
Gabby