Hear Me Roar

OK, still not feeling like a long blog post--though the Bromance books are fun and deserve a write-up (I finished the third, Crazy Stupid Bromance today). Instead, I thought I'd mention something else I've been reading this weekend (besides romance novels and magazines): the guidebook for artist M.J. Cullinane's ROAR oracle card deck. I bought the deck primarily for the art. ROAR is filled with portraits of notable woman--I'm not adding photos here for copyright reasons, but if you're reading this, you should definitely check out the art on Cullinane's website, because it is beautiful. (I don't know exactly how she creates the images, many of them based on photos--digital collage?)

There are familiar figures who drew me to the deck--including authors such as Octavia Butler, Maya Angelou, and Mary Shelley. There's a strong representation of women associated with New Age and spiritualist movements, including Pamela Colman Smith, who I learned just this year was the illustrator and co-designer of the "Rider-Waite" (now often known as "Smith-Waite." or "Waite-Smith" or "Rider-Waite-Smith") tarot deck. Perhaps most intriguing to me are the figures who are new or virtually new to me, like Wild West mail carrier "Stagecoach" Mary Fields; Maud Wagner, first known female tattoist in the U.S.; and Ida Lewis, lighthouse keeper known for her lifesaving rescues (she now has a U.S. Coast Guard cutter for a namesake).