Celtic Symbols

Jen Delyth is a Welsh artist who has created many beautiful works based on her interpretation of Celtic symbols and designs. She has books, calendars, t-shirts and other items with spirals, zoomorphic images such as dragons and other symbols. Much of her work also incorporates her concept of the Celtic Tree of Life. The tree of life is a theme common to many traditions, from Norse to Kabbalistic. Trees certainly play a significant role in Celtic cosmology, as we can see from the Ogham, or tree alphabet which uses names of trees to signify letters.

Jen Delyth is an artist who is both keeping old Celtic artistic traditions alive and bringing them into the future, as her designs are at once ancient and contemporary.

What follows is a video by Jen Delyth, Land of the Blind, Trance Peace Concert, with some great images to go with the music.

Courtney Davis is an example of a contemporary artist who is reviving traditional Celtic symbols and designs and placing them into a modern form. His books are especially appealing to people who want to make art themselves, or perhaps get tattoos or decorate their homes with Celtic motifs, because he goes into detail about how to create and use these designs.

For example, in books such as the Celtic Art Source book, Courtney Davis discusses the history and traditional uses of Celtic crosses, spirals, knotwork and zoomorphic (animal) images. He gives examples of how these can be used as borders, mandalas or other decorations, as well as displaying fully formed colorful images he has created.

Courtney Davis has also created other books that specialize in particular Celtic symbols, such as spirals, as well as calendars and card decks with his work.

This video showcases some of Davis’ beautiful interpretations of Celtic art: