Over and under, the knots flow, dragging your eyes on the journey they follow. The rule to this simple and mesmerising system appeals to something within us all and it is only natural to want to follow it. To me, knotwork is one of the few places that we can still see magic in its raw form, as clear to us now as it would have seemed to our ancestors through the ages.

I do my best to honour the traditions they created so long ago; not to just imitate them, but to live them, use them and build upon them through my artwork on skin and other mediums. So many of the cultures of the past have been lost to us in Northern Europe and yet the art of our ancestors still speaks to us. It whispers to us, and despite the fact that many of their letters are now undoubtedly lost, their culture seems somehow familiar, even now. Although much about the history of these cultures is unknown, I do not intend to try and re-create it, for the past was a brutal and hard time, yet some of the heritage that survived can still be useful to us now.

Knotwork was used by the ancient Celts in Britain, as well as the Germanic tribes of Europe and many other cultures from across the world. To me, the meaning of many of of the symbols from these times were left intentionally open to interpretation. They were intended to be meditated upon and it was down to the viewer to unravel their meanings. This is why they are Sacred Knots to me.