John Jervis
Garran, ACT

Rustic chairs

Whilst supervising a Landcare Work for the Dole project on the Wollondilly River I had access to hawthorn (Crataequs mongyna) which we were removing with other plants as weeds. I sourced out information on the hawthorn, also commonly called whitethorn and may bush. It is used as a substitute for boxwood (Boxus sempervirens), is similar in structure to pear, is hard, fairly heavy, tough and smooth to work, with a fine close grain.

‘This material was stacked until I had formulated a design and then progressed to make a rustic chair. I envisaged wood with character, not straight and this material fitted my ideas beautifully. I did not want to use nails or glue, so utilised wedged mortise and tenon joints.

‘With experience I found I had to make the back first, then the seat, then the two sides and finally finish off the arms etc. This method was used because of the twists and turns in the wood—nothing was straight.

‘The child’s chair was made to take to Landcare meetings to demonstrate ‘recycling’ of weedy woods, instead of burning, and has opened many eyes into recycling issues and adaptability.’