Process
42 petal flower
80 pointed star
Most of my knots start with a lot of erasing. In fact it’s mostly erasing…
I choose a starting point, like a number of points or petals, and start drawing shapes, like 7 five pointed stars or 5 eights or 4 seventeens. You get the idea…
Then comes the process of what I call solving the knot. I break and connect lines in a variety of ways until I can get the line to be a single continuous loop.
That’s what all those little tick marks are; I make them when I’m checking to see if I’ve passed through every point.
After that it’s just a series of finishing steps to give the line weight, and add in all the overs and unders…
Then I re-draw the knot on the computer. It’s almost like starting the process all over again.
First I trace the actual drawing, then I make a version that is a single line, to which I can assign any thickness.
I usually draw several forms, depending on my goal. I end up with different files for the same knot. One is like the original drawing with the line weaving over and under, one is a like a stencil, and one is like a lattice…
Eventually I have a file that I can send to the laser to cut.
I really enjoy the whole toasted wood aesthetic, and I love seeing my knots in what I call lattice form, all cut out from a piece of wood. It’s a lot more work for the laser, making all those cuts, but so worth it.
The possibilities really do feel endless. Pun intended.
