HOME

Welcome to my website, a source for contemporary ropework, made with traditional techniques.

My name is Gary Watson, and I make unique hand crafted pieces of art work in rope. My rope sculptures are particularly suitable for coastal gardens, or a gardens with a nautical theme.

I work with natural rope such as Hemp, Manila, Sisal, Flax, and Cotton. I also use traditional looking rope, made with high quality man made fibres, depending upon the function of the piece.

To look at most of my photographs on other pages of this website in detail, click on the picture, and when the picture opens, click on it again for a close up view. You can then use the arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll around the photograph.

I am fascinated, and awed, by the purity of single strand knots. Most of these knots are called Turk's-head's, but would be better named Celtic knots, as the single rope weaves its way around the knot, crossing either over, or under itself, to terminate, at the starting point.

For the treatment of woodwork, I highly recommend Le Tonkinois natural varnish.

Recently, I have worked out a series of single strand knots which perfectly cover a Tee- junction, right angled corner, or cruciform.

As these knots are made from a single strand, they are very time consuming. I have worked each of the designs down to the simplest form, to try, as best as I can, to counter this.

Models have been made to show how some of the Tee-junction knots can be used to connect garden arches. More than two arches could be connected by using cruciform knots at the middle connections.

I have several designs for Tables and Chairs, utilising these knot forms, that I hope to make in the future.

The tactile nature of rope, combined with the aesthetic qualities of the knots, physically, and spiritually, links us to our heritage.