Irish Blessing - May the Road Rise up to Meet You - Celtic Art
For thousands of years the people of Ireland decorated sacred sites and sacred books with intricate and elaborate knot work. This piece was designed with that history in mind and represents centuries of Celtic craftsmanship. I developed the script from a combination of traditional Celtic style letters and text found in an 8th century Gospel of St. Matthew. The corner knots are a modified version of a pattern found in a 9th century Celtic text. And the outermost knots are adapted from knot work found in the 7th century Book of Durrow.
In keeping with the traditions of ancient scribes, I decorated this piece with genuine 24k gold leaf and fresh egg tempera. All of the colors are hand ground and custom mixed from pure pigments. Rich greens, soft blues, and brilliant golds evoke the feeling of rolling hills, rushing water, and storm swept skies of the Celtic homelands.
Featuring one of the most popular and beloved Irish prayers of all time, the text reads:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields, and
Until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of
His hand.
Traditional Irish Blessing
This piece was created on Pergamenata, a specialty paper that mimics the look and feel of animal skin vellum. Like vellum it is hydrophobic and reacts to moisture in paint, ink, and air by wrinkling. This is not a defect, rather it adds to the character of the piece. This subtle rippling effect shows up in scans of the piece and will thus be duplicated in the prints. (Prints are 100% flat and it does not effect the framing .)
***UNLESS OTHERWISE REQUESTED*** All my prints are printed with an extra 1/2" border for easy matting and handling. Leave a note at checkout if you do not want this border.
Original artwork measures 20"x16" Prints available in multiple sizes. Custom sizes are also available.
I try my best to accurately represent the color of all my work. However, due to individual screen settings your actual print may appear a few shades lighter or darker than your computer monitor.
This listing is for a high quality Giclee print of my original artwork.
Dimensions are in Inches.
