ADC Books - Specialist Tolkien dealer in rare books & original art

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Ruth Lacon holds two degrees, a Bachelor of Science in Zoology - which gives her a keen insight into the way in which animals, both real and invented, are constructed - and a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and Design, through which her skills as an artist and illustrator have been honed and brought to the fore.

Ruth has been captivated by the world of JRR Tolkien since a very early age, and she had read 'difficult' works such as The Silmarillion by the age of fourteen. As an artist she has been influenced by a wide range of artistic traditions from across the world and throughout time, including medieval European manuscript tradition such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, Byzantine art exemplified by icons, Islamic art of the Indian and Persian schools as is found in the illuminated Q'rans, and Chinese and Japanese art.

A member of the Tolkien Society since the mid 1980's, Ruth Lacon quickly found her artistic skills being utilised as illustrator for various projects, including covers for the bulletin Amon Hen, and to stories in Nigglings - the publications of the creative writers interest group within the Tolkien Society.

At the same time, Ruth was establishing a strong interest in the academic side of Tolkien studies, writing papers for various seminars and conferences. This has developed into the ongoing ground-breaking research with myself that has resulted so far in two books: The Uncharted Realms of Tolkien (2002) and The Forsaken Realm of Tolkien (2005) - both highly acclaimed. Ruth was commisioned as the cover artist for both these academic books.

Her skill in illustrating Tolkien's works developed through pieces for all the major writings and was refocused in 1992 when she was commissioned to illustrate The Tale of Gondolin, a book created as a modern analogue to an illustrated and illuminated medieval manuscript. This story, reconstructed from unfinished parts of Tolkien's writings by Alex Lewis, is one of the major strands of The Silmarillion. From there, she has worked on many iconic scenes from works such as The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Farmer Giles of Ham, Roverandom, Unfinished Tales, The Book of Lost Tales, as well as returning very often to The Silmarillion for inspiration and challenge. She has also worked on the follow up project to The Tale of Gondolin, a limited edition illustrated and illuminated book of short stories set within Middle-earth and written by Alex Lewis, entitled The Ruins of Osgiliath, produced and issued in 2005.

Ruth Lacon paints primarily in gouache, though she also works with pen and ink and produces pieces in black and white as well as full colour. She works from her home in rural Shropshire.

Ruth's artwork is inspired by the works of JRR Tolkien, with each piece illuminating and illustrating in their own way some aspect of Tolkien's writings, and making it at once more accessible and visible to the viewer.