Breezy Hill Turning

Turned Wood Art by Michael Foster

Knot Art

Blowing Smoke
A piece constructed of 4 different torus knot forms and a sculpted mouth and base
Available

Blowing Smoke
Torus knots- blister maple, bleach, lacquer
Lips and base- maple, acrylics

Torus knots-3.25” x 1” (3,4), 5.25” x 1.25” (5,4), 7” x 1.5” 7.4, 9" x 1.75" 8,5
Overall size is 9”W x 18” L x 11” H

Currents of the Cosmos
A 3,4 Torus knot. Selected as part of the AAW “Currents” show in Tampa 2013.
Sold

The torus is 11'D x 3", and it stands 14" H with the base.
Form-Cherry, Acrylics, Base-Maple, leather dye

Currents of the Cosmos
A 3,Detail of the carving and coloring of the surface.

A Mathematician's Dream
A turned and carved 2,3 torus knot.
Sold

A Mathematician's Dream
The surface joining the edges approximates a minimal surface and the cross section of the torus forms a hypocycloid.

A Mathematician's Dream
Elder Burl 9” x 3”, Bush oil Birch base ebonized with leather dye, 13” H with base

Fibonacci Torus
An 8,5 torus knot joined by minimal surfaces. Base and knot are both inspired by the Fibonacci series.
Sold

Fibonacci Torus
Torus- Curly maple, stain, Bush oil, 7” x 1.75” Stand- Maple, Leather dye, wax, 10.5” tall with stand

Carnival Mathematica
A 5,3 torus knot.
Sold

Torus knot- maple burl, inks, oil 6" x 2". Stand- maple, dye 8"H x 9" W with stand

Inversion
A minimal surface that joins a trefoil knot as the inner edge with a circle as the outer edge.
Sold

Inversion
Figured big leaf maple, Bleach, stain, pyrography, 9" x 2.5”, stand is maple with dye and Krylon

Infinite Loop
A trefoil knot minimal surface. The edges of the piece trace out a trefoil knot, and the wood joins those edges in a minimal surface.
Available

Infinite Loop
Elder burl, colored epoxy, oil. 5.5”D x 2”

Knot Art

This page displays the work that is derived from knots. The edges of all of these pieces if transformed into string, would become knots. The edges are joined to make a surface or a form. I try to actually approach what would be a minimal surface or soap film, but this is only an approximation.

Many of the knots here are actually torus knots. This means that the edges of the forms lie on the surface of a torus (think doughnut). The resultant form may not look like it care from a torus, but indeed they all started as a torus, and were carved away after the knot was laid out on the surface. Torus knots are described (a,b)by the number of times the edge passes through the center hole (a) and the number of times it circles the whole form (b). So a Mathematicians Dream is a 2,3 torus knot and Carnival Mathematica is a 5,3 torus knot. All of the torus knot forms I show here are, by the nature of their form, called non-orientable surfaces. That is, there is only one surface . If you trace your finger around the form it will come back to the starting point. The simplest of these is a moibus strip.

Both Infinite Loop and Inversion are minimal surfaces derived from trefoil knots which is a 3 lobed knot with d crossings. See the minimal surface gallery for more information on minimal surfaces.