Number Nine

Just spent a wonderful long holiday weekend on St. Augustine Beach with some of my bestest of friends. While driving home I made a very happy discovery. I have been selected to be one of the artists on the AFP tarot card deck. (That's Amanda Fucking Palmer to the uninitiated).

I've been selected to design and execute the card for Nine of Wands. So I've been doing a little research.

Some of the words or phrases associated with the Nine of Wands:
~ strength
~ perseverance
~ though obstacles may see insurmountable, continue to push towards your dreams/goals
~ determination
~ a long struggle with victory at the end
~ realism
~ heroism
~ protection
~ reliability
~ virtuousness
~ purpose driven

Some of the symbolism associated with the Nine of Wands:
~ path - follow your current path/goal/dream
~ mountains - represent the obstacles which must be overcome
~ central figure at rest - respite after a long period of hard work
~ armor - protection, preparation, strength

My ideas:
I've been playing around with a few rushed sketches. The one which seems to fit the card best (and Amanda best, cos after all, this is an AFP tarot) is this: Our Heroin Amanda is leaning heavily on her staff (wand). She's resting on her path, miles to go, yet miles and miles behind her. In the background are mountains (symbolising what she's already overcome). Her "armor" will be an astronaut helmet (taken directly from Amanda Palmer's song Astronaut). Given who Amanda Palmer is (NOT Goth but Brechtian punk cabaret I'm going to give her (and her astronaut helmet) a kind of Steampunk look to them.

The main rule for this project? No Striped Stockings!!!