One of my favourite things to do here at Trevallan is rearrange.
I love making space for new things, but I also love falling back in love with pieces that have been here a while. These two Prickly Yellowwood side tables are a perfect example.
I call them the stump tables, and they stop people every time.
Prickly Yellowwood, Zanthoxylum brachyacanthum, is an Australian native rainforest tree, found from Queensland down into north-eastern New South Wales. It is known for its yellow timber and for the sharp conical prickles that form along the trunk and older wood, formed as part of a natural defence system. Unfortunately these trees only get to about 300mm diameter so often get overlooked in the furniture world.
These particular trees were destroyed during land clearing and, at the time, Kevin from ARK&C Handcrafted Woodwork, did not know exactly what they would become. He just knew they were worth saving. Which, to be honest, is a pretty accurate summary of how Kevin works. He has a habit of collecting things simply because he can see something in them, even if the final idea has not arrived yet. I love that about him. I am not entirely convinced his wife always does.
Where others might have seen awkward timber with no obvious use, Kevin saw story, texture and something far too unusual to waste.
And now here they are, transformed in the best possible way. Cut and finished so the tree can speak for itself. You can still see the outer edge, the form of the trunk, and even the prickles that once protected it.
They are not just side tables. They are a reminder that beauty is not always found in the obvious timber, the straight trunk, or the easy piece to work with. Sometimes the most remarkable pieces come from what others would have cleared, ignored or forgotten. In many ways, that is what Kevin’s work has always been about.
One of my favourite things to do here at Trevallan is rearrange.
I love making space for new things, but I also love falling back in love with pieces that have been here a while. These two Prickly Yellowwood side tables are a perfect example.
I call them the stump tables, and they stop people every time.
Prickly Yellowwood, Zanthoxylum brachyacanthum, is an Australian native rainforest tree, found from Queensland down into north-eastern New South Wales. It is known for its yellow timber and for the sharp conical prickles that form along the trunk and older wood, formed as part of a natural defence system. Unfortunately these trees only get to about 300mm diameter so often get overlooked in the furniture world.
These particular trees were destroyed during land clearing and, at the time, Kevin from ARK&C Handcrafted Woodwork, did not know exactly what they would become. He just knew they were worth saving. Which, to be honest, is a pretty accurate summary of how Kevin works. He has a habit of collecting things simply because he can see something in them, even if the final idea has not arrived yet. I love that about him. I am not entirely convinced his wife always does.
Where others might have seen awkward timber with no obvious use, Kevin saw story, texture and something far too unusual to waste.
And now here they are, transformed in the best possible way. Cut and finished so the tree can speak for itself. You can still see the outer edge, the form of the trunk, and even the prickles that once protected it.
They are not just side tables. They are a reminder that beauty is not always found in the obvious timber, the straight trunk, or the easy piece to work with. Sometimes the most remarkable pieces come from what others would have cleared, ignored or forgotten. In many ways, that is what Kevin’s work has always been about.
