Seeking to bridge a disconnection between my remote work on nature restoration and the living environments I loved, I quit my job and became a Postie in St Ives. Working along the coast each day, away from a screen for the first time in years, I started noticing things again - and eventually found my way to furniture making. Through that shift, I realised that slow, analogue reflection - writing and drawing by hand - was vital to my mental clarity. I designed this desk for that practice: a space to sit, check in, and get on with the day without distraction.
I refined the design through sketching, scale drawings, and a maquette. Through this process, its features resolved: a compact footprint suited to a quiet room; a grooved upstand for resting books and pencils; a drawer for journals; and a planished apron that prompts touch. The desk minimises distraction - both while in use and through the ritual of journaling itself, which frees the rest of the day from overthinking.
I chose to work with an Ash tree with an exceptional ripple - a figure caused by an auxin mutation that typically sees timber reserved for premium veneers. Because the tree was claimed by Ash Dieback and left too long, the wood was marked by heavy blue staining. I embraced this as a record of the tree's history rather than a defect. Harvesting affected trees can help to protect those showing natural resistance, which is vital to the long-term survival of British ash.
The top is veneered over birch ply using reclaimed ash from Graeme Scott's workshop. The drawer base is salvaged Cedar of Lebanon from David Charlesworth's - legacy stock from two key Devon cabinetmakers. The Steamed Pear is an agricultural byproduct, harvested at the end of its productive life. Its fine, almost invisible grain and warm tone make it the ideal surface for texture, allowing it to shine without competing with figure. This desk is an assembly of second-life materials, built on the belief that reclamation is as vital to a healthy craft community as the regenerative growing of timber.