Croi an Oir

The piece is meant to resemble the style of the Book of Kells. The background was made to look like vellum, and the majority of the used colours were picked because these are also used in the manuscript. Also included is genuine 22ct gold gilding to draw further attention to the important parts of this piece.

The center remains empty, for it is the portal to the outside world from the woven honey-skep. On the inside of the skep we follow in the busy bees' tracks, symbolized by the knotwork, while they weave their way amongst themselves filling the comb-chambers with the golden substance.

The four corners represents what goes on outside. Starting with the top left, panel one shows the woven honey-skeps. To it's right, panel two shows the bees collection honey from the wild flowers in the fields. Below and on the left, panel three shows a monk demonstrating a bee-friendly way of removing the bees from a full hives By tipping it upside-down and holding an empty skep above it it allows the bees to climb up into the empty basket. The fourth and final panel shows the monk filtering the honey comb through a cloth and catching the golden substance in a decorated bowl, ready for processing.

Bordering these stages of honey collection is the knotwork, framed in red with droplets of golden honey in between the knotting, symbolizing mankind working in harmony with nature to harvest it's bounty.

And finally, crowning this piece on every side of the design is the wondrous creature it's all about; the humble honey-bee. Crowned by blue pigments, which are meant to represent the Lapis-Lazuli pigments used in the Book of Kells; one of the most precious pigments because of the incredible distances travelled for it.