Nothing-Whatsoever Meditation Bench
£60.00
This is the Nothing Whatsoever Should Be Clung To As I Or Mine meditation bench. I made it by hand, from scratch and painted it to. Just for you. Maybe. My wife calls is a Wonky Zen Bench. Because I practice Zen meditation. And because the bench is wonky. Which at first was a mistake but then I realised it made total sense. This particular phrase is from a book about one of the earliest Buddhist sutras and really stuck with me. So simple. So neat. I was wondering about what artwork to put along with it when I picked up the bench and my hands wrapped around it. Ah! It made sense and the outlines of my hands fit really well. Building the benches was neat. A slow, unrushed, joy and a challenge.
Details
Postage and packaging
Delivery details | £15.00 UK | £20.00 Overseas.
About the maker
Gavin Birchall started working with furniture in Summer 2025. He has studied and worked as a pharmacist, entrepreneur, company builder, designer, web developer, marketer, photographer, writer, meditation guide and personal coach. He lives with his wife and teenage children in Preston, England.
Details
Name: Nothing Whatsoever Should Be Clung To As I Or Mine Meditation Bench.
Built and painted: Summer 2026.
Editions: 1 hand made and hand painted meditation bench. Grass not included – get your own.
Dimensions: H 21cm x W 42cm x D 14cm.
Weight: ~0.8kg.
Colour-way: Stained pine with blue acrylic paint.
Process: A long time thinking about making meditation benches. Measuring the meditation benches I already had for size and shape. Designing the bench and devising the build. Visiting the DIY shop. Purchasing a plank of wood. Cutting and sanding the wood. Drilling, screwing and gluing the pieces of wood together. Sanding again. Filling the screw holes with wood filler. Sanding again. Noticing that despite best efforts the bench was wonky. Attempting to stop the bench being wonky by sanding the feet. Noticing that this was not effective. Accepting that this is a Wonky Zen Bench (my wife named it and it’s friends so). Realising that is a good thing. Staining with furniture stain. Allowing to dry. Staining with furniture stain again. Allowing to dry. Pondering on what artwork would work well on this particular piece. Designing the typography on my computer. Printing the typography to the appropriate size for the bench. Applying chalk to the back of the paper with the type on. Taping the paper onto the bench. Tracing around the edges of the type to transfer the chalk to the wood. Removing the paper and painting the type with an acrylic pen. Letting it dry. Procrastinating about the freehand art work and the risk that it will ruin the piece. Feeling into what artwork this particular bench wanted. Putting my hands on the bench itself and painting the freehand artwork around them with an acrylic pen. Letting it dry.