The Art of Life
It is a great honour that our friends at Tyndale House Publishing
published this concept in 2020 in the NLT translation as “The Art of Life Holy Bible”
Creation Illustrated
The plants, animals, and people of the Bible
The Creation Illustrated Bible concept is a celebration of the beauty and diversity of God’s creation.
With Creation Illustrated, we wanted to make a Bible, that is both eye-catching and inviting as a coffee table book as well as informative and edifying as Bible product.
We searched out all botanical plants, all non-mythical animals and 150 of the most important biblical characters. The botanical and zoological species native to the biblical region and times were identified and were passed along the illustrator, who virtuously drew all these wonders of the world – whether it is a Sycomore-fig, a Seagull or a Son of Zebedee – in the same delicate, simple, yet evocative pen style. A custom typeface was also designed for this project to match and complement the pen style illustrations.
The concept also contains English captions written to each illustrated item. Captions include a factual description of the plant, animal, person but also providing a description of how each relates to the biblical world as well as any symbolic or spiritual significance it conveys. The captions manuscript amounts to 50.000 words.
A rendering of the white-label concept
Find our interview with Dina here
This Bible is a celebration of the beauty and diversity of God’s creation. Relating the Word of God directly to the World of God as we know and inhabit it, we want to emphasise the connection between the biblical narrative and characters and the life story of its modern-day readers. The biblical stories are stories taken place in our world. This Bible allows us to look directly into the eyes of the beautiful Jewish Esther, who became Queen of Persia. We might recognise ourself in the proud face of king David. Or in the anxious yet hopeful eyes of the young servant girl in Na’aman’s household. You almost feel the stinging pain from the touch of the leaves of the Nettle. You almost hear the wind breeze in the large crown of the majestic Cedar crown. You almost expect the sudden movement of one of the eyes of the otherwise entirely still-standing Chameleon. You are almost surprised that the cricket has not yet utilised the incredible force of its hind legs and jumped away as you moved closer to its page in the book of Nahum.
The Creation Illustrated is not a study Bible that mainly speaks to the spiritual or conceptual side of things. Rather It is a very physical Bible. A real and realistic Bible. A Bible that speaks about the invisible Creator, by exhibiting and showcasing his very tangible and instantly relatable creation as we experience it today.
Maid of Naaman’s Wife
Nettle Urtica pilulifera
Esther ’ester ~ star
Cricket Gryllus bimaculatus
Chameleon Chamaeleo chamaeleon
Cedar Cedrus libani