Long time, no postings

And here's why:

The show is up until the end of the month; come on down to The Playhouse at 686 Queen St. in Fredericton and check it out!

There's already been some media coverage of the exhibit, and it's generating positive responses. I admit to having been a bit concerned because of the subject matter, but so far no complaints.

I've received all kinds of feedback; here's the best:

Little boy, looking at pictures: "So . . . did any of these people die having their photographs taken?"

Playhouse employee: "No, I think they're all just posed shots."

Little boy, relieved: "Oh, okay." [after a pause] "I think I like art."

December already?

I'm ahead of schedule for planning and behind schedule for shooting the Major Arcana. Where's the Tarot at?

We shot the Empress. There's the set over there. The cards themselves are going to be layered images, but I can never decide on the final version. I know I've got months left to play with it before the gallery show, but I think I'll have to spend some more time meditating on each card.

The Empress is kind of like a Creatrix in my mind, a mother figure. The draft I have of this card reflects that. You can see Venus' comb-and-mirror as well as "mater" on the card. But I think it's all too obvious.

Introspection. Reflection. Consideration.

No, not the card silly. Me. My to-do list.

The websites are coming along nicely. Look to Beyond the Images to see Studio B-related projects, news, and galleries. Look to Mae's Eye for proofs and purchasing power. Soon. I'll update the links on the right once I have a working version of both sites underway.

What's up-and-coming as Mae's Eye sees it? More street photography, holiday portraiture and frenzied Yule crafting. Yes, I still have time in the studio before the end of December. Some unbooked time, even. Are you a last-minute shopper? Everyone's getting photos for Christmas this year. Some call me cheap, some call me thoughtful. Regarding gifts, that is.

Next time, tips for approaching people you don't know in order to take their picture (street photography).

Tarot underway: Magus, Fool, Strength, Hermit, Star

So many pictures. The Magus. The Fool. Strength. The Hermit. The Star.

That's six of twenty-two taken care of. This deck is turning into a statement about urban life in Freddy Beach, NB. I wish I could take credit of intention. I intended an amalgam of the Thoth, Arthurian (Keeper of Words), and Rider-Waite decks. I intended each set piece and bit of costume flotsam to have a purpose. I saw the locations scouted as incidental, with import related only to the composition of the final piece. It's taking on a life of its own.

In one of Charles de Lint's short stories, he refers to each city having a kind of guardian spirit. Perhaps it's fairer to his depiction to call them personifications of the city they embody. If the capital city has one, it's certainly nudging me toward its soft underbelly. Not to violate; just to see. . .

In any case, I interpret the cards as follows:
THE FOOL (0) - The beginning and the end. Folly and mania; a free spirit.
THE MAGUS (1) - Pure Will, a microcosm. Five elements at play and command.
STRENGTH (11) - Magnanimity in action; power.
THE HERMIT(9) - A rogue, a ranger. Woodland esoterica and reclusivity; misinformation.
THE STAR (17) - Hope, a bright future.

You object?! Of course you do. I'm assuming that when Waite switched the traditional placement of Strength and Justice, it was a foil within the esoteric tradition of the Golden Dawn.

A comparison of Thoth and R-W decks can be found on Wikipedia and Lelandra.com.

I also take the hopeful meaning of the Star over the "abandonment" reading. And the Strength card will end up looking like a cruel hybrid of the Keeper of Words card and the Thoth card. Despite the picture above, no cats were harmed in the making of the card. We're not going Visconti-Sforza, here . . .
























The traditional Strength card in the Sforza deck has a male with a weapon raised as if clubbing the lion.

• Discussion of the Strength card in A Keeper of Words on Aeclectic.net.
• More on the positioning of Strength and Justice; same place.

Next time: tips for shoots with critters!

Death.

I wanted a birch tree. In Tree Ogham, Birch (Beithe) symbolises new beginnings. It fit, from where I stood. Sat. Saw.

The Death card is about change.

But Fredericton seems to have an anti-birch sentiment. At least, so far as I can tell. I think we captured the liminality in other ways: the sunset, the widow's weeds, the ashes.

Or maybe you can't see any of that. Is this how Peter Jackson felt when he called for detail the cameras would never see? Eh, maybe. His budget was bigger.

She is Death. No, you can't see the capture for the card itself or the gallery show. You'll have to go to the latter in the spring like everyone else.