Instead of doing another post about St. Patrick, I decided to do one on Celtic art - specifically the Book of Kells. Not many people have heared of the Book of Kells, but it is one of Irelands prized possessions. It is believed the book was created in a monastery during the Medieval period and it contains the Four Gospels. In the 9th Century the book was moved to Ireland from Scotland; where it was eventually stolen and later found - minus the cover. The book was returned to Ireland in the 17th Century and has remained in the Trinity College since.
What sets this book apart from any other is the immense decoration and illustration throughout the entire collection. Each page contains elaborate letter articulations and some take up entire pages - which could include figures of humans, animals, mythical creatures, and Celtic knots. The illustrations contain a broad range of colors, with purple, lilac, red, pink, green and yellow being the most dominant. In the book there are ten full-page illustrations and throughout there are numerous decorated initials and small figures of animals and people twisted into designs and knots.
I took inspiration from the letter M found in the Book of Kells and painted name art for my oldest daughter - Madailein. I also found the letter C in the book and will do a painting for my baby, Caitlyn, as well!
I began my penciling out the letter M and played with the color a bit.
Time to start painting! I selected brown, green and purple - and love how they look together.
I was going to stop with just the letter M, but thought it would look cute to have the rest of her name painted after the decorated initial. 
Love how it turned out! Next step - adding more decoration around her name and then on to Caitlyn's! Happy Crafting!
