MEANING: The four circles signify the Seasons and their importance in the Celtic calendar. In the “Old Religion” it also described the Wheel of the Year with the four Greater Sabbats: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh, and the four minor Sabbats: Yule, Ostara, Litha and Mabon. On another level, every number has a certain power. The symbolic meaning of number Four deals with stability and invokes the grounded, balanced nature of all things. Consider in addition to the four seasons, the four directions, four elements... This knot is an open knot, or a knot that consists of 4 separate circles interwoven (as opposed to a closed or eternity knot consisting of one line with no beginning or end). Open knots are said to represent a journey, perhaps physical, emotional or otherwise. By encircling the Knot of Four, the Seasons are put into a relationship... If you are drawn to this knot, perhaps you are experiencing an awareness in the flow of your life from one season to another, or are stepping on a new path or beginning a move.
THE CARVING: Our carvings are single pieces of western red cedar, designed and carved to be wall hangings. Each carving begins as a 1 X 12 inch cedar board. While we use power tools (Scroll Saw, Rotary shaft Tool, handheld detail sanders etc.), we use no laser’s, CNC machines or computer operated cutting machines. All work is done with our hands and eyes…
We cut the 2 dimensional blanks with scroll and jig saws (double-sized custom orders have to be cut with jigsaw). Carving is done with rotary shaft tools and disc grinders. The 80 grit sanding is the final phase of the carving process, removing the nicks and gouges from the carving tools, and finishes the shaping of the weave. The next 2 sandings with 120 then 220 grit finishes the smoothing and polishing. They are finished with Clear Danish Oil to seal the piece, bringing out the grain and the color.
SIZE: One picture has the piece on a quilting board, lined up on the 1 inch marks. The quilting board, at its simplest, is a one inch grid. So with the piece on the board, you look at the top and follow the line to the left and look at the right side at the widest point and follow the line to the bottom and you have height by width...but wait! It's not that easy! The way this board I have is laid out, if I lined it up on the zero points it would cover up the numbers and on some pieces you wouldn't be able to see them...so, I line it up on the 1 inch marks which means when you get the numbers, you have to subtract 1 inch... TA DA! Measurements may vary slightly from piece to piece.
