ILLUMINATION ---- PICTURE PERFECT

My first thought was of the flares that used to hang over the former Ft. Ord during night training, before our esteemed  and all knowing politicians deactivated one of the premiere Light Fighter Rapid Deployment Divisions, the 7th Infantry Division.  So my next thought,  far removed from the Military that protects us,  was of Illuminated manuscripts, especially the Book Of Kells.  I have this hanging on my wall, not from the Book of Kells, but from a local artist over in Santa Cruz. 

The picture can be clicked on for a larger view

camera used was a Kodak EasyShare Z612

 The artist's name is Jonathan Blocher,(I learned something new today, all these years I thought the artist's name was Blooker from his signature!!  When I viewed the enlarged version--way larger than I intended!!--I noticed the name was actually Blocher, he is listed from a google search, and his work is still available) and the name of his company was Manuscriptures.  These are all hand done and numbered.  The light was not good and I could not managed to get the rich colors to come through. 

It is hard for me to imagine the time and effort that went into making Illuminated manuscripts.  Most are in latin or another language, so many times we cannot reflect on the words, but on the written word as art.  So few survive extant today.  They  are truly a treasure.  My background is a page from the Gospel of Mark.

 Following a small write up about the Book of Kells are some links to the Book of Kells if you are interested.

"The supreme achievement of Irish Celtic art and one of the world’s pre-eminent examples of illuminated codices, the BOOK OF KELLS is a manuscript deluxe, written and richly adorned for use in the conduct of public worship. In its taste and delicacy, in its originality, and in its elaborations of coloring and design, the BOOK OF KELLS must be placed among the wonders of the world." --  B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library/C.W. Post Campus-Long Island University

"The Book of Kells was written around the year 800 AD and is one of the most beautifully illuminated manuscripts in the world. It contains the four gospels, preceded by prefaces, summaries, and canon tables or concordances of gospel passages. It is written on vellum and contains a Latin text of the Gospels in insular majuscule script accompanied by magnificent and intricate whole pages of decoration with smaller painted decorations appearing throughout the text. The manuscript was given to Trinity College in the 17th century and since 1953 has been bound in four volumes. It has been on display in the Old Library since the 19th century. Two volumes can normally be seen, one opened to display a major decorated page, and one to show two pages of script." -- Trinity College Dublin/The University of Dublin  (Where the Book of Kells is kept--John)

http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/sc/kells/kells.htm

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells

http://www.tcd.ie/Library/heritage/kells.php

If you are not a part of PPF

and would like to join in all the fun

just follow this link --------->PICTURE PERFECT 

(borrowed from LindaO's page)