Carving a Knot

Carved Knot

Several months ago I saw a black and white photograph posted on Instagram by @jsollows, a local photographer, and it really struck a chord (and a cord) with me. I contacted him about carving it and he agreed that I could.

I started with a 1 inch thick piece of basswood, and cut it to 8.5”x11” square. Then I transferred the image to the wood, and started setting in the depth by cutting around the ropes and carving from the edges to these stop-cuts.

Setting the depth and outline.

Carving the general shape.

Textured rope, smooth background

Softening the edges.

All in all, it was a fun project that I probably completed in about 8 hours of carving time, not including research and, well, time spent pondering my next move. This one is headed to Jim’s place sometime soon.

Title: Knotted Relief

Material: basswood, 8.5”x11”x1”

Finish: wood butter (a blend of natural oil and beeswax.