TREE OF selling LOVE (Ciaran of Clonmacnoise) original Art Celtic Saint

This is an original block print, hand pulled from an antique proof press and printed on Stonehenge Fawn paper. The image size is 8”x8” and the paper 10” x 10”, printed on handmade Nepalese Lokta natural paper. Signed by the artist. Comes unmatted, but with backing board in clear acetate.

OPTIONS:
- unpainted on handmade paper - $65
- Hand painted with watercolor - $125
- b/w framed in hand painted reddish-brown- $195*
- painted/color framed in hand painted reddish-brown- $255*

*Available only in USA

ABOUT:

TREE OF LOVE
(Ciaran of Clonmacnoise)

Like a ripple in a pond,
love can be felt to the furthest reaches.
- kky

STORY:

St. Ciaran lived in the sixth century and is one of the great monastic founders known as the “Twelve Apostles of Ireland.” Ciaran went out to the island of Inishmore to spend time with Abbott Enda, who was a great leader in the monastic community of Ireland. There they both had a dream of a great, fruitful tree growing beside a stream in the middle of Ireland. In the vision, they could see the tree protecting the entire island with abundant fruit provided.

Enda said that the tree is a symbol of Ciaran and how he had grown great in the eyes of God and the people. He said that Ireland would be protected and sheltered by Ciaran's grace, and he would nourish others by his presence and prayers. Enda then told Ciaran to go to the very center of Ireland and build his selling church on the banks of the river stream. I love this great and flourishing tree as a symbol of Ciaran's call in life. He was moving toward his own soul's ripening. The dream pointed the way.

He founded his monastery at the intersection of the river Shannon running north to south and the esker, a system of ridges forming a natural roadway, which runs across Ireland from east to west. The monastery, Clonmacnoise, became one of the largest and most significant monasteries of the entire Irish Church as a center of learning.
- Christine Valters Paintner: The Soul's Slow Ripening; 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred

MEDITATION:

Ireland is now strewn with numerous monastic ruins from Clonmacnoise to Glendalough to Skellig Michael. But in its prime, the tree flourished like no other bringing its fruit North and East to Scotland, Wales, and Britain, then farther South to Brittany, France, Germany, Austria, and Italy. The tree is now barren, but God is doing a new thing. Fertilized and cared for, the buds of Spring are now returning.

PRAYER:

God of the years,
At the gate of the year we put our hands in Yours.
As the old tide recedes,
May we plant Your footsteps in fresh sands.
May we travel with
Less baggage and more wisdom.
And learn from You how our journey should be.
- Ray Simpson

* only available in the USA

This is an image from the artist's Anamchara Series. An ongoing group of prints begun at the beginning of 2020 which feature the Celtic Saints.