Princess and the Pea...enjoy basal pleasures that nurture the soul. (p.249)

As I emerge from 5 years of deep fairy tale interplay with paintbrush and prose, I’m realizing that life outside the studio can be just as creative as what goes on at the drawing table. At one time I wouldn’t have thought that everyday tasks could actually be microcosms of an internal story. But I’ve grown to think life is literary assemblage–with everything we do having the potential to serve as a plot device: facing challenges, problem solving, redemption, accomplishment and all the other human nigglings that encompass our daily existence. Maybe we don’t feel like we’re performing some stage-worthy monologue as we talk aloud while writing the grocery list or grumbling under the weight of bills yet paid, but we can learn to feel a certain amount of satisfaction and perhaps significance in the basic things we do.

I was particularly struck by this while (believe it or not) kneading dough for cinnamon buns. Anyone who makes baked goods from scratch will tell you how consuming and labor intensive it can be. One may either dismiss it as yet another chore or one can assume the attitude that there is something very gratifying about creating food with one’s bare hands. To see one’s dough rise, the patience, the anticipation, …you get my drift. I do think about the little tasks with more reverence now. Picking fruit from a tree has a lot of symbolic significance and represents the end of a cycle. Gathering flowers and foraging food appears in many a fairy tale. It’s a basic human inclination yet sometimes we forget that these seemingly simple activities have deep roots making for good, timeless plot devices.

The cinnamon rolls are made by rolling out the dough, covering it with filling (sugar, spice and everything nice) and rolling it up into a neat little blanket of deliciousness. Aren’t fairy tale tomes the same way? When opening up a collection of stories, you know it’s going to be filled with all manner of enticing tales. And when the cinnamon rolls are placed in oven, they expand and turn golden and become more voluminous forms of their basic ingredients. That is how I feel when I read a fairy tale book–the stories can be expansive and satisfying filling my being with essential nourishment that I can carry over into all areas of my life. I really believe fairy tales are all around us; the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. If we can remember to see our own daily activities and events as snippets of wonderful story, then we can feel a deeper awareness of those things that compose who we are in our entirety. Our identity is not dependent on profound triumphs or abject failures, but it is all the little experiences along the way, no matter how small they may seem.

~Lisa

Concept sketches for the Star card

But the biggest change for me was sending off The Fairy Tale Tarot into a realm called completion. I felt so many mixed feelings as I let this baby go. Of course, there is the initial euphoria of having realized a personal dream within the dictates of a deadline. But then there is the inevitable post-project comedown after releasing this 5 year mission to the anonymous never land of production, where its fate lies in the hands of others. I shall never do this project again and it is flooding me with all manner of conflicting emotions. It’s always amazing to see one’s work-of-passion make it to the daunting sphere of publication, but the reality of its finality is like an encounter with post-partum confusion.

Final drawing for the Star card

The Star card speaks to me at the present: resonating with my need to let go, mentally gestate and drink up the nourishing light of inspiration before fully immersing myself in studio activities anew. Even my editor told me that I deserve a break after such intensity. And despite my conditioned need to keep working (the ol’ keep on drawing if you wanna eat), I know that she (and those around me who witnessed my years of dedication to this tarot deck) is right. I need to take time to read, sketch, dream, journal, socialize and allow external stimuli to refill my well with renewed creative zeal. I’m entering a season of adjustment from feelings of being an accomplished fairy tale painter to a girl sitting in front of her clean, empty drawing table, an unfamiliar sight after many years of constant artistic activity. I need to allow myself to organize my thoughts and my space before engaging in another spate of blissful creative chaos. And I know I will. This is not the first time I have finished a big project…but I will never have the thrill of doing The Fairy Tale Tarot again! For now, I will enjoy this peaceful interlude and allow the muses to go play outside for a while, with me as the quiet observer sketching without obligation. Soon, I will hold printed tarot kit in hand and will have a host of new feelings to process .

The Star from The Fairy Tale Tarot, watercolor painting

Symbols and meaning:

The Star Maiden flies into the center of the tree thus connecting the spiritual world with the earthly plane: merging the different layers of consciousness. A spiral circulates from her chest, expressing her desire to go be liberated from the confinement of limited ego-driven thinking. The dying leaves are being released from the branches and flow freely. The full moon symbolizes birth, death and resurrection. Lunar activities preside, when fragments of the waking state fill our dreams at night. The faces in the trees represent the collective unconscious and our ability to access ancient knowledge while we dream.
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It is important to be receptive to dream messages as a means of gaining greater insight and wisdom about our past, present and future. By becoming more aware of our inner dream life, we can become more proactive in our waking lives—actualizing those hopes and dreams that reflect our deepest desires.

~ Lisa

Summer Queen Doodles

Despite the challenges of strange climactic anomalies, I’ve been tending to my “garden of surprises”. It’s my little patch of organic nurturance, mixed with offerings from my kitchen compost. Here is where I plant seeds and watch seeds plant themselves. On one end, I have my seed-germinated tomatoes—and to all those who garden, you know there is nothing like a fresh tomato from your own labors, especially when grown from delicate seed. 

On the other end of my garden is where providence happens. I mix compost in with my soil and wait to see what comes up. Right now, I have a fruit-laden papaya tree, squash, tomatoes  and what I think might be potato plants having self-germinated from scraps. These unexpected guests are settling into that space that they’ve claimed as their own. And you know what? The plants are getting along with one another! Oh, the garden offers so many wise lessons.

Summer Queen Drawing

I love having my planned garden juxtaposing Mother Earth’s spring specials. I never know what she is going to come up with, but she’s obviously grateful that nothing is wasted, and all is returned to whence it came. And for that, I’m rewarded with a sense of renewal and an interesting mix of edibles.

*****
The Canadian tale of the Summer Queen is one of the less known inclusions in my deck. It is a beautiful story and one that was destined to be the Queen of Pentacles card. I stumbled on a translation quite by chance and had immediate visions for the potential card art.

Summer Queen Painting

If you study the image, you will see that it is a card of polarity and balance, something that has come up in recent tarot conversations (Thank you, Arwen Lynch). The Summer Queen, as the earth mother, presides over the land, yet her presence is complimented by the cold earth waking up from its winter-induced nap. Slowly, everything comes alive under the warm presence of Summer Queen’s vibrant appearance. She holds an orb of energy, has flowers cascading from her hair, butterflies symbolize renewal and geese fly to the sun. This is a card that makes me feel good. She’s reassuring but realistic. She is not eradicating winter, but she is part of a larger cycle that must include rest before activity can resume.  And what a wonderful thing it is to wake up to the sounds and scents of spring after a long winter respite. Don’t you think?

Lisa Gardening

Lisa in her Garden

~ Lisa

The Three Little Pigs

Lisa tarring her parents house, age 12

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a pretty resourceful woman. I grew up in an environment where being hands-on with sundry tasks was part of the childhood experience—this included helping expand and remodel my parents’ house. All those chores of yesteryear provided valuable lessons in carpentry and home improvement, as I began tackling my own remodeling endeavors in chez Hunt/Kramer. My Taekwondo Master and classmates have told me that I’m really strong. Well, this is not from ever having a gym membership or engaging in organized strength training. Rather, my strength derives from good old-fashioned manual labor, a humble and effective way to stay fit and save money!

Working Lisa 1

My most recent accomplishment, with the help of my trusty assistant Kort-hubby and under the experienced eye of my father, entailed installing hardwood flooring in my hallway. I’ve been wanting to do it for years, but such an undertaking takes mental and financial preparation—there is some planning to consider including what wood to use, color, square footage, thresholds, wood grain direction, adhesive or nails and all manner of particulars that must be pre-determined before commencing with this no-mistakes-can-be-made type project.

Hammering

While on my knees working on the floor (next time, I’ll invest in knee pads!), I felt like one of the cloven-hooved protagonists in The Three Little Pigs fairy tale. In the artwork for the story an ambitious pig wearing a blue apron, symbolizing focused labors, is building his house one brick at a time. This is how I felt as I smeared the adhesive and placed a wooden plank down gently. I knew what I wanted and despite the mess and misery that are byproducts of such intense physical labors, I enjoyed envisioning the floor and watching it slowly come to life one plank at a time.

Gluing the floor down.

There may be a project that you’ve always wanted to do, but have put off for a while. The Three of Pentacles reminds us that envisioning a plan and bringing it to fruition requires focus, attention and productive determination. But the results can be most gratifying! And there is something to be said for feeling tired after a long day’s work. There is a big difference between mental fatigue and good, deep physical exhaustion. I think I like being physically active because it provides a nice break from the intensity of my studio. And I need both to feel accomplished and alive. Good thing my house still needs a lot of work!

Lisa Work Finished

~ Lisa

To view the Three Little Pigs art, click HERE.

(concept sketch)

In the Frost King, the story contrasts the virtuousness of the stepdaughter with the contemptuous “real” daughter (A similar theme also appears in the story Diamonds and Toads). Here the stepmother exploited the goodness of her stepchild before demanding that her husband, the father, take her to the wood and leave her for the Frost King. After an agonizing goodbye, the wretched girl was left by the stream without protective cover. It wasn’t long before the Frost King emerged from hiding, expecting to hear cold-induced moaning from his potential victim. But when he snapped his ice fingers and gnashed his teeth with tempting questions about the creeping cold, the girl responded sweetly that she was warm. The Frost King pulled back. He was so impressed with the girl’s uncomplaining nature that he covered her with a blanket and left her jewels.

Can you guess what happened next?
Well, the girl returned home with the treasure prompting her surprised stepmother to send her own daughter into the freezing wood. “Imagine what great gifts the Frost King will bestow on her!”
But when the Frost King approached the child, she was so miserable and ill tempered that he slowly froze her to death.
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Symbols

The resolute girl wears the color red, representing life. The hardness of the ice melts, echoing her own abilities to overcome the coldness of her surroundings. The Frost King is illuminated with warm spirals. He is there to summon respect and offer relief to a desperate situation. His bag contains the secrets of his power and wisdom. The crown, spiked with high-rising icicles is a symbol of his connection to higher thought processes. The tree is adorned with more spirals, symbols of hope for continuation.

~ Lisa