Celtic Love Knotwork

Celtic Love Knotwork Intarsia Woodworking

I was recently asked to do a Celtic Love Knotwork piece out of wood. I had never done any sort of knotwork before, and I knew there would be some great challenges in creating this piece, but I am always up for a challenge. The person that I completed this piece for has this image of Celtic Love knotwork tattooed on their back and I wanted it to match the tattoo as closely as possible.

I put in some research on the image and was able to come up with a plan to go by. I started by blowing the image up to the desired size and sketching out plans. The biggest challenge that I faced with this piece is lining each individual pieces of wood up to match perfectly. I had to create the illusion that the wood was twisting and curving with the design. The meaning behind this design is “Love that never ends” because the lines of the hearts are continuous. I could not let this get lost in translation to wood. Once I finished getting each piece to line up correctly, I sanded down the edges to give it a rounded look. This piece was painted by request, but I think this piece would look beautiful done in pine with a cedar frame and background. Since I have completed this piece, I have been very anxious to do some more knotwork. The key is to find designs that will work well in wood. I do not want to lose any of the details or key features when translating these images to wood. I have future plans to do a “Celtic Tree of Life” design and a “Celtic Ravens in Knotwork” design. Each time I go out to the Renaissance Festivals, I get more ideas of things that I would like to do. If you have any suggestions on some good knotwork designs, leave me a comment. Your input and suggestions are always welcomed.

-- Chris Mobley - www.cmobleydesigns.com