Fantastic Friday - The Art of Jim Fitzpatrick

I know the usual day I post ‘art’ is on Sunday, but this is tied to Wednesday’s Tales of the British Isles – ‘The Transformations of Tuan…’

I’ve had these books for ages, and I bought them for the artwork, not necessarily the stories. Each time I took them out, it was to ogle the art, and it was quite a while later that I finally read the stories. Not surprisingly, they added meaning to the images, making them even more powerful.

The artist, Jim Fitzpatrick, is Irish, and he wrote ‘The Book of Conquests’ in 1978, following it with ‘The Silver Arm’. The stories are retellings of Irish myths to do with the legends of the Tuatha de Danaan and the Fir Bolg.

The image qualities aren’t the greatest as I took them directly from the books instead of finding them on the internet. My reason for sharing them here is to, obviously, showcase the gorgeous work of Jim Fitzpatrick – in my humble opinion, I think he should be more well-known – and to add to the richness of the stories.

Jim F - Tuan stag.JPG

Tuan reborn as a stag

Jim F - Tuan sea-eagle.JPG

Tuan the great sea-eagle

Nuadu, king of the Tuatha de Danaan

Streng, champion of the Fir Bolg

The death of Eochaí, king of the Fir Bolg

Balor of the Piercing Eye

Nuadu of the Silver Arm

The Coming of Lugh

Nuadu battling Indech, king of the Fomor - The Second Battle of Mag Tuired

Lugh rides to battle on Enbarr of the Flowing Mane

Lugh in battle

Lugh readies his sling-stone against Balor