I'm planning to attempt one myself in the fall. I have the driftwood, and have wired the tree to fit the curve of the driftwood. I will post some pix when I get these two together in fall.

Jur, my only criticism (maybe a personal taste) is that your finished front shows only the deadwood with branches sticking out of it. I would prefer to see the "lifeline" from the front. Kind of like this:

http://pictures.bonsaitalk.com/showphoto.php?photo=1174

Although this tree is not a phoenix graft, you get the idea of what you want to try and achieve.

Good luck.

This was pretty good for a first time. For a lifeline, maybe you can add another graft in the future? I don't know if this is possible or desirable, just thinking about images in my mind.