The Flow pattern is one of Arn’s signature designs, an original forged pattern that he’s continued to hone over the years. One of Arn’s favorite aspects of working with mokume is creating and developing new patterns and exploring the possibilities this beautiful and complex craft can offer.
This pattern is characterized, as many forged patterns are, by a more linear look. Flow evokes the imagery of moving water or air, with long lines wrapping around the ring, but also still referencing the “woodgrain” style of more traditional mokume by including knots dispersed throughout. These knots can be either solid metal, in a color that matches the palette of the rest of the ring , or they can be patterned.
One row of knots works best for a narrower ring, we’d recommend this for widths from 3mm up to 6mm.
Two rows of knots looks best for the mid widths, around 4mm wide up to about 8mm.
And then for very wide rings, we’d recommend doing 3 rows of knots, from 6mm to 10mm.
There is overlap in the different widths and number of rows of knots, as Flow can have many different appearances and it will depend on your preference. Because we use the same stock billets, the more rows of knots, the more the layers in the ring are compressed. If you prefer a finer look to the patterning, you may prefer more knots on a more narrow ring, whereas if you’d like the pattern to be more bold you would want a wider ring.
The other elements to consider are knot type and knot placement! We’ve touched on solid vs patterned knots, but with patterned knots, there are two types.
We have upright knots, which contrast the direction of the patterning on the rest of the ring:
Or angled knots, which tend to blend in more with the rest of the flow pattern:
The last consideration is knot placement! When Arn is arranging the knots for the ring, he can place them more evenly, or in more of an organic, staggered way. Placing the knots more staggered creates extra movement in the patterning and a more natural look.
With all of this said, just keep in mind that many of these factors are customizable! Flow especially is a very versatile type of pattern that can suit a variety of looks and design preferences. One of the beautiful and exciting parts of mokume is how even small changes can create something entirely new and unique. Arn loves exploring new ideas and the process of creating different patterns, so if you are interested in customizing an existing design we have please just inquire! We can also explore adding stones, pictured here are a few examples we feel work beautifully with this patterning.
