One Ash: LulaJames

The One Ash project launched in 2020 with the aim of giving young people from four Andover schools a greater understanding of the role of trees in our lives. The project connects the school children with crafters, artists and other people who work with wood on a daily basis.

On 13th February 2020 the children, crafters, artists and wood-workers witnessed the felling of an ash tree on the Englefield Estate near Reading. The tree was then divided and distributed to the individual wood-workers and you can follow the journey of the wood and the many different forms it will take through the One Ash journal pages.

In this edition of the One Ash blog we meet furniture design company LulaJames a.k.a. Daisy Brunsdon & Andrew Joye.

What have you been up to with your piece of the One Ash since felling day?
When a tree is first felled it is full of water and as it dries the timber distorts, twists and changes. As a furniture maker it is important that we make sure the timber has already dried and stabilised before we use it- we cannot risk it distorting when we have already made it into furniture! We dry the timber out in a controlled way by putting the timber "in stick". To put timber "in stick" means to stack the boards on top of one another with spacers (or sticks) in between to allow air flow. Usually timber takes a year to dry plus a year for every inch of thickness so, a board 1 inch thick can take 2 years to dry and a board 2 inches thick can take 3 years to dry! We put our ash timber in stick immediately after the tree was felled one and a half years ago, luckily it seems to be drying very well and we should be able to work with it soon.

The One Ash timber ‘in stick’

We will be making a pair of dining chairs with the one ash timber. Ash steam bends particularly well; a process whereby the timber is made to be hot enough to become pliant. We are planning to celebrate this characteristic by making beautiful steambent back components.

What is your background and how did you get in to making furniture?
Both myself (Daisy) and my partner Andrew studied furniture designing and making as a degree at Rycotewood Furniture Centre in Oxford. Before the degree I didn't know what to do, I was a creative and hands on person but was yet to find my passion. Whilst working at a bakery I started attending an evening course in woodworking and I loved it. My teacher suggested I enroll in the degree course and from then there was no looking back!

Andrew and I started our business Lula James back in 2019 and feel really grateful to have a job that we enjoy doing so much!

Do you have a favourite wood to work with? What are you looking for when you select your wood?
Being environmentally conscious we prefer to use timbers grown as locally as possible. Oak and Ash are the ones we use most although we do love using Walnut as it is so luxurious and beautiful.

Which designers have influenced you and is there a particular era of furniture design you are drawn too?
At Lula James Woodworking Creative most of our designs are inspired by a mix of traditional and contemporary. We aim to create pieces that will last forever without looking out of fashion. Looking at existing pieces of furniture in real life and in books can be a good source of design inspiration but we also find inspiration in trees and nature as well as in the timber itself.

What are you working on at the moment?
Currently in our workshop we are making a big maple dining room cabinet that will be used to store our clients' most precious plates and tableware. It is fairly traditional and very grand. We have designed it to match a trio of coffee tables that we made for the same couple last year and are really excited about it.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking about starting furniture design?
To all of you who are thinking about a career in furniture we would recommend that you always keep a pencil and a notebook in your pocket because you never know when inspiration or an idea will come to you!

If you would like to find out more about LulaJames’s work with the One Ash project follow their journal.

You can read about all the crafters, artists and wood-workers on the One Ash project page.

An exhibition of the One Ash project, including LulaJames’s work, is planned for 2022 and will form part of the 10-year celebration of all that Andover Trees United has achieved, including the completion of planting in Harmony Woods.