Description
"The finest reproductions of my work ever!" - Jim FitzPatrick
THE ‘WOW’ FACTOR
When my son Redmond came up with the concept of this new portfolio set of some of my very best works printed on heavy Hahnemühle fine art metallic paper I thought it sounded like a very cool idea.
It was only when he sent me the actual proof version of the images enclosed in a beautiful cover that I realized this was no ordinary printed portfolio, this was a work of art, an artist’s dream come true.
In short, it had the ‘Wow!’ factor.
For all my career as a working artist, I have always insisted on the very best possible reproduction but until the arrival of digital printing, it was almost impossible.
Now, thanks to this ongoing revolution in digital tech I can proudly say that these new prints are absolutely outstanding, and the most beautiful editions of my art ever published and that is no exaggeration.
Enjoy this new collection, I’m very proud of it.
-Jim FitzPatrick. 2023
This portfolio contains some of my very best Celtic Irish artworks. These artworks are based on the rich mythology of Ireland and have a story behind them. These stories are ancient and hugely influential in modern fantasy from ‘Star Wars’ to ‘The Lord of The Rings’. They tell of the different peoples who have occupied Ireland over thousands of years. All of whom have a story and history which add to our own human story that connects us all.
Read these descriptions and maybe they will even add more color to these artworks.
What’s inside?
First, you get all these prints inside a simple folder portfolio so you can safely store your prints or put the portfolio on display.
8 Metallic Paper Prints. The print Moriath is signed.
The first 10 regular portfolios will get a signed A5 14.8 x 21 cm, 5.8 x 8.2 print of Hughes Spiral 2. 4 Left!
A certificate of Authenticity with the signature of the artist and limited edition number.
THE DELUXE EDITION
Includes all of the above.
And Signed print of Hughes Spiral 2 Full size.
4 Extra prints: Cruitne Pen and ink line, Emer pen and ink line, Moriath pen and ink line preliminary and Moriath pencil preliminary.
Print Descritptions
Moriath. Lover of Labhraidh Lionseach.
This is the main print from my Ancient Ireland Land of Legend Portfolio Two and is signed by me. This image has only ever been published in my own book Erinsaga in 1984 and in the Wunderwelt Calendar in 1998. This is the first time a print reproduction has been created and as it’s one of my favorite works I am delighted by how amazing it looks on the metallic paper, I think you will be too!
Moriath was a princess and the lover of the legendary Irish High King, Labhraidh (Lowry) Loinseach (Lynch) who was, according to the ancient annals, considered the ancestor of the tribe known as the Laighin, who gave their name to the province of Leinster.
The period is reckoned in the annals to be around 300 BC.
An early dynastic poem refers to Labhaidh as ‘a god among the gods’ which suggests a royal lineage of a supernatural type as well as that as a temporal earthly ruler.
Moriath was the daughter of the warrior Scoraith and hearing of the great deeds of Labhraidh she wrote a love song for him and sent it to him where he was fighting for the King of Gaul. Labhraidh is delighted with this beautiful poem and decides to return to Ireland and reclaim his throne.
With the help of the Gaulish Breton king of Amorica, who supplies him with ships and 2,200 fighters he sets sail for Ireland.
These followers were Gauls, Basque Celts, and Irish warriors known collectively as the Laighin from the region of Amorica, in modern-day France.
In the end, Labhraigh retakes the throne and makes the beautiful Moriath his consort.
Cruitne, Daughter of Lochan
Cruitne was the beautiful daughter of the chieftain Lochan but fell in love with the youthful warrior Finn McCool, much to the disgust of her father who disapproved as the warrior Goll wanted the head of Finn on a plate for a great insult to him and his people. They became lovers but never married as Finn was afraid the Cruitne would be killed in his place if they were man and wife.
Saint Patrick Banishes the Serpents
The most potent and well-known myth attached to the mythical, not the real, Saint Patrick, is the tale of his banishment of all reptiles from Ireland as they were thought to represent Satan and his demons and were in thrall to the dark side of nature. The real Patrick (Patricius) was taken prisoner by Irish sea-raiders (yes, the Irish went a-Viking too) and brought to Ireland to be auctioned as a slave. It is known that he was born to a wealthy upper-strata family of Celtic Britons near the end of the fourth century. He is believed to have died on March 17th, around 460 A.D.
Emer, Wife of Cú Chulainn
Nuada and the Demon of Death
This work, started when I lived in Connecticut, USA, and finished when I moved back to Ireland, was one of the most difficult to complete of all the more intense works in my book, ‘The Silver Arm’.
Nuada, High King of Ireland, was restored to the kingship by the creation of an arm of silver to replace the arm lost in battle against the Fomor enemy in the first battle of Moy Tura. This artwork depicts Nuada fighting his last battle against the Demon of Death at the end of the second battle of Moy Tura against the dark forces of the Fomor and Balor of the Evil Eye.
I enjoy dealing with abstraction so rather than represent a more predictable and familiar demonic form I went for this more obtuse, globular, shapechanging nightmare of ancient demonic power, emphasizing the colossal scale of it towering over Nuada as it consumed him and ended his life.
Dagda and the Daughter of Indech
The Dagda was one of the great omnipotent deities of the early Celts, a celestial father-figure like Odin in the Viking myths.
‘And the Dagda took the dark maiden in his arms and made love to her with such passion that the hollowed bed where they lay together can be seen to this day on the strand of Eba and is known as ‘The Bed of the Coupling’.’
There’s no doubt that the semi-divine Dagda, the God of Excess, is one of the outstanding characters given free roles in the mythology of this, The Second Battle of Moytura.
He is allowed roam free to indulge his every desire and satisfy every appetite, often with truly comical results.
Here he uses his amorous skills to trick a war-witch into revealing the battle plans of the enemy Fomor army.
The Coming of Lugh
The god-like Lugh Lamhfháda, the Il-Dána, the ‘Man of Science and Many Talents’, was one of the outstanding heroes depicted in the ancient Irish annals and in my book ‘The Silver Arm’.
Lugh was of mixed race, Fomor and Dé Danann, both eternal enemies representing the forces of light and dark and was a champion of the Tuatha De Danann.
In the end he is the one who finally destroys his own grandfather, the powerful wizard-lord Balor of the Evil Eye and ends the Second Battle of Moytura when his lightning weapon strikes the Evil Eye of Balor.
Balor falls to the ground dying but the Evil Eye scythes a path as he topples and burns a huge crater in the ground.
There is now, today, in County Sligo, a lake named Loch na Súil, the Lake of the Eye. It marks the very place where Balor fell and his Fomor army were finally defeated.
Nuada Journeys to the Otherworld
With the loss of his arm at the Second Battle of Moytura, Nuada lost the kingship of the Tuatha Dé Danann and was close to death when the Badb, the triple War Goddesses, came to bring him home but then as they prayed for their king, Dian Cheacht the Healer, the God of medicine summoned the spirits of the ancestors to cure Nuada, his beloved king.
As in a dream Nuada was sent on a journey to the Otherworld to seek healing from the gods.
He returned cured of sickness and instead of a withered stump he had an arm of silver. One whole again he reassumed the kingship of the Tuatha Dé Danann and resumed the battle against the Fomor.
Hughes Spiral 2
This is a design adapted and inspired from a beautiful, iluminated spiral design in the Book of Kells.
It signifies Life, Death and Rebirth, echoing the ancient belief systems of the earliest prehistoric inhabitants of the island of Ireland.
Print, Paper and Postage Details
8 Metallic 21.6 x 27.94 cm, 8.5 x 11 inch prints on the award-winning Hahnemuehle Metallic Rag 340gsm Paper.
Hughes Spiral 2 is printed on linen card paper, embossed and signed. The A4 21 x 29.7 cm, 8.2 x 11.6 in size is included with the Deluxe Portfolio. The A5 14.8 x 21 cm, 5.8 x 8.2 in size is a Bonus print for the regular Portfolio until November 13th.
The Certificate of Authenticity is A5 14.8 x 21 cm, 5.8 x 8.2 inch size and printed on linen card paper.
The 4 Extra Deluxe prints are 21.6 x 27.94 cm, 8.5 x 11 in size printed on Hahnemuehle Photo Rag 188 gsm paper.
The portfolio folder is 22.86 x 30.48 cm, 9 x 12 in.
The Special bonus print for buyers of Portfolio One and Two is 27.94 x 43.18 cm, 11 x 17 in size ad printed on fine parchment paper and folded in half.
All printing, packaging and posting is done by my son Redmond FitzPatrick from his home in California.
Orders will start to ship on November 13th.
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