Salix Rocker - a happy accident.
I was contacted a few years ago by a local resident, keen woodworker and attendee on one of my courses, who told me a good-sized limb from a yew tree in Newton Ferrers churchyard had split away from the main tree in storms overnight. I met him to have a look, and was able to salvage a few pieces for incorporation into furniture. English Yew is traditionally considered a sacred wood, believed by pagans to ward off evil spirits, but also, perhaps more usefully, as the leaves and berries are a potent toxin, to deter livestock. These are believed to be the reasons that English Yew is so commonly found in churchyards. English Yew has for centuries been valued as an incredibly strong, dense hardwood. It was used for English longbows due to an unusual property, The inside of a bow - the belly, needs to be strong and dense to withstand the compression forces when the bow is drawn. The outside - or back - needs to withstand the tension forces on the outside of the bend when it is drawn. Bow makers would normally have had to glued timbers together to achieve these differing properties - but the sap wood, and heartwood of English yew, uniquely, have these dual properties. I have incorporated both sapwood and heartwood in this chair, as it contrasts so nicely.
I have made quite a few Salix armchairs - often in ash, but had never used the spectacular orangey red hues of Yew in a seat before. Amongst furniture makers it has a reputation for being incredibly difficult to work, with crazy changes in grain direction, knots, bark inclusions, all adding to the problematic working properties, but also of course, to its ultimate beauty.
The yew seat actually came from another source - a local resident in my village had a roadside yew tree which had to be taken down for safety reasons. I planked it with a friend over 4 years ago - this Salix rocker is the first piece to use its exquisitely coloured timber.
The original Salix chair was actually in part inspired by my trefoil table design, which features the same bend, and 30 degree twist. I made some jigs up to achieve this in the thicker dimensions of a back/ arm rest, and the first Salix chair was born. The twist in the arms is actually super comfy - try holding your arms out as if you were sitting in an arm chair - you'll find your hands are most comfortable angled like this. The prototype was too wide for most people, so I altered the jig, and made a second prototype. This was exhibited, and sold quite quickly, and garnered further commissions. The yew one pictured here initially didn't seem quite right. I accidentally cut the arms too short, and the angles just weren't quite right - this is one of the perils of working largely by hand, and intuitively. I sat with the chair in the workshop for a while, and finally decided, after several months, to try putting rockers on it. I made a pair of nice straight grained rockers, steam bent them and left them in the setting jig for several months. After playing with angles to get a nice smooth rock and seatangle, I took the plunge, and fitted them. It has a lovely smooth, gentle rock. Not too lively, not too subtle, and i'm now really pleased with it as a design.
If you'd like to buy it, or commision a piece of truly sustainable, local furniture, contact me here.
Salix Double Settee Style, in Oak.
