Who Says I'm Too Old To Color?

I love art...especially what is commonly referred to as illustration. Or animation.

I like it in movies.

I like it in graphic novels.

I like it in childrens books.

I think there is some really amazing art and artists out there, and a lot of people don't know who they are because their work doesn't hang in a galleries, but rather graces the pages of literature.

I wonder if it was always that way?

I watched an AMAZING animated feature the other day with my kids. I highly recommend it...it's called The Secret of Kells.

The animation style is AMAZING, the story engaging...and it is an animated story about...well...illustration. Specifically, the artwork and drawings made in books in the medieval ages by monks who copied the stories.

I thought it was all fiction...but it turns out that there IS a Book of Kells...an illuminated manuscipt Gospel book, written in Latin, and containing the Four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks circa 800 A.D. or slightly earlier. The animated story is, of course, fictionalized...but it retains the spirit of the work the monks did to illuminate text and preserve history. And it shows how amazingly creative these "illustrators"...or, in this case, "illuminators"... were.

The book is fascinating, and on display at Trinity College in Dublin.

And there are many, many more texts decorated and illuminated in this style in other museums around the world.

The Book of Kells, though...is widely renowned as the best example of Insular style. It's intricate artwork is unsurpassed. I researched it and read about it and became more and more fascinated with it and other works.


Then , I had the opportunity to take my Girl Scouts to visit the Spanish Monastery here in Miami. I've visited the monastery before, and wrote about it here. It is still as beautiful as it was when we first visited.


On the way out, I was lingering at the Gift Shop with the other girls as they picked and chose what to buy, and I saw this: 

A coloring book filled with artwork from various Insular texts to color. It even has work from the Book of Kells!!


I HAD to have it...and for only $6...I indulged.

I had it on my dresser for a couple weeks...taunting me. I WANTED to color in it, but I never seemed to have the time. How do you justify taking the time to color in a coloring book when you have all these responsibilities? How do you color in a coloring book when you're (gulp) 34 years old?

Well...I FINALLY carved out some time for myself to work on my book...

  This is the opening page. I used colored pencils. It took me a LONG TIME...and I loved every minute of it.

And know what? As I sat at the table and colored, my kids stopped what they were doing...watching T.V., playing poker, doing geometry, arguing over whose turn it was to chase the cat...and came to watch me. And after watching me color for several minutes...they went and got their OWN coloring books. By time I started on my second page, I realized that my house was...for once...blessedly quiet. I looked up and saw all 5 of my children sitting around the table with their own coloring books, quietly coloring with me.

Jason came into the room, also drawn out of his activity (he was reading) by the silence, and said: "What's going on?"

I looked up at him and smiled, but the children were fully engaged and didn't answer. He gave me this bewildered shrug and smile and disappeared back into our room and his chair to resume his book...in peace.

I was able to finish another page...

And I explored the book...the artwork is amazing...

And what's REALLY funny is the words they use for each letter. For example, that beautiful peacock I colored was for the letter "A"...and this is the word for "A"...

At least it had an explanation of what the word was. Not all of them did...and I found there were a couple I had to look up...such as...

...and...

...and, lastly...

And some of the words are just strange choices...especially for a supposedly childrens coloring book. For example...

..."H is for hedonist"...and also for "hmmmmm"...

There's also:

..."Q is for quantum theory"...

But my favorite page is one for the letter "F"...

..."F is for floriferous"...which my spell check is telling me is not even a real word...but it is such a beautiful picture that I can't wait to "illuminate" it...

...and if coloring in my book brings so much tranquility into a life and home, I can see why the monks of old spent so much time doing it...

...and I can tell I'll be doing more illuminating in my very near future...