"Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair"

Will be at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke, MA, for the 4th Annual Small Works Exhibit.

Pen and ink, watercolor

5" x 7"

www.gatewaycityarts.com/small-works-gallery

From “The Highwayman”by Alfred Moyes. I had this idea for Inktober day 4 “knot” but realized it needed a fair bit of research and preparation (like, what the heck is a love-knot?) and found a reference to a Celtic love-knot, which she is plaiting into her hair with red ribbons wrapped around the individual plaits. Later I discovered someone else had done the same subject, but pictured it as a probably more accurate and certainly simpler approach where she had tied the knot into a ribbon which she then braided into her hair.

You can read the poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43187/the-highwayman