Barefoot Fool
Okay, so my deck is illustrated, self-published, and has garnered some small acclaim from some wonderful people who gather at these forums. Thank you!
My initial reason for illustrating a deck, however, was not to illustrate a deck: it was to write a book. I am first and foremost a writer. (Please excuse this long post.)
The book was, originally, a children’s story. However, instead of writing a book, I made a woodcut. It was much easier.
In the image, a boy pulls a girl by the hand. He points to a ladder which leads to the attic. In the attic, there is a trunk. Outside, umbrellas fall like rain.
It is the attic, the endless attic where all toys go when they are outgrown, where the works of years past are laid to wait for the minds of future generations. There, the treasures are endless.
When it rains out, the boy and the girl sneak into the attic, close the door, and open an old wooden trunk, origin of all adventure. In the trunk lie the treasures of the mind, for it is filled with papers— letters, photographs, journals, cards— papers covered in writing and images.
One rainy day, the boy picks out a small carved wooden box. A box within a box. He opens it. Inside are slips of paper. On each piece, writ with fine fountain-pen script, is a terse aphorism: a riddle.
The girl takes the one on top and reads it aloud. “…”
“A riddle,” says the boy. “But what could it mean?” He takes the next, reads it. “…”
“I wonder how many there are” says the girl. She dumps the papers and arranges them in a grid on the floor to count. “Twenty-two.”
* * *
And then I had to write the riddles. Which I did. You can see them (and enter a fine contest!) on my website.
http://barefootfool.com/origin-of-the-species-tarot-of-the-absurd/
http://barefootfool.com/tarot-riddles-tarot-of-the-absurd/
But the truth is, I knew nothing about what makes a tarot deck. I did 14 years of research. I illustrated a deck. But the book remains unwritten! Admittedly, the original concept will probably always remain thus.
My blog was meant to be brainstorming for my book. And then, as usual, life intervened. A sleepless baby. A sleepless toddler. And although I would love an occasional volunteer babysitter to allow me time to write, that is not really what I’m asking for here.
I’m asking, is a collection of poetry, personal essay, history and mythology to incohesive? There is a chapter for each card. (Or, there will be.) More than explaining the image, the chapters evoke my feeling for the meaning of the card. They are meant to trigger the reader into thinking about meanings of things.
And now I’m stuck. I guess I want to hear all kinds of things about tarot books. Like:
What don’t you need in a tarot book?
What annoys you most about your favorite tarot book?
Do I really need to tell you outright what the cards mean?
You can make up your own questions to answer. (Also, please.)
Mostly I would love it if you, any of you, could take a look at some blog entries and tell me if you think they would make good stand-alone chapters. There’s always editing, & I don’t need to hear, “you write well” (but thank you, if you might have said that), I really want to know if I am writing a book that people would be interested in reading and what else it needs for it to be cohesive.
Thank you so much for reading this long post.
My initial reason for illustrating a deck, however, was not to illustrate a deck: it was to write a book. I am first and foremost a writer. (Please excuse this long post.)
The book was, originally, a children’s story. However, instead of writing a book, I made a woodcut. It was much easier.
In the image, a boy pulls a girl by the hand. He points to a ladder which leads to the attic. In the attic, there is a trunk. Outside, umbrellas fall like rain.
It is the attic, the endless attic where all toys go when they are outgrown, where the works of years past are laid to wait for the minds of future generations. There, the treasures are endless.
When it rains out, the boy and the girl sneak into the attic, close the door, and open an old wooden trunk, origin of all adventure. In the trunk lie the treasures of the mind, for it is filled with papers— letters, photographs, journals, cards— papers covered in writing and images.
One rainy day, the boy picks out a small carved wooden box. A box within a box. He opens it. Inside are slips of paper. On each piece, writ with fine fountain-pen script, is a terse aphorism: a riddle.
The girl takes the one on top and reads it aloud. “…”
“A riddle,” says the boy. “But what could it mean?” He takes the next, reads it. “…”
“I wonder how many there are” says the girl. She dumps the papers and arranges them in a grid on the floor to count. “Twenty-two.”
* * *
And then I had to write the riddles. Which I did. You can see them (and enter a fine contest!) on my website.
http://barefootfool.com/origin-of-the-species-tarot-of-the-absurd/
http://barefootfool.com/tarot-riddles-tarot-of-the-absurd/
But the truth is, I knew nothing about what makes a tarot deck. I did 14 years of research. I illustrated a deck. But the book remains unwritten! Admittedly, the original concept will probably always remain thus.
My blog was meant to be brainstorming for my book. And then, as usual, life intervened. A sleepless baby. A sleepless toddler. And although I would love an occasional volunteer babysitter to allow me time to write, that is not really what I’m asking for here.
I’m asking, is a collection of poetry, personal essay, history and mythology to incohesive? There is a chapter for each card. (Or, there will be.) More than explaining the image, the chapters evoke my feeling for the meaning of the card. They are meant to trigger the reader into thinking about meanings of things.
And now I’m stuck. I guess I want to hear all kinds of things about tarot books. Like:
What don’t you need in a tarot book?
What annoys you most about your favorite tarot book?
Do I really need to tell you outright what the cards mean?
You can make up your own questions to answer. (Also, please.)
Mostly I would love it if you, any of you, could take a look at some blog entries and tell me if you think they would make good stand-alone chapters. There’s always editing, & I don’t need to hear, “you write well” (but thank you, if you might have said that), I really want to know if I am writing a book that people would be interested in reading and what else it needs for it to be cohesive.
Thank you so much for reading this long post.
