London, part 2
From the V&A I took a bus to Tottenham Court Road, which was close enough for my next destination: the Atlantis Bookshop. It is always a unique experience to enter the shop. The place has certainly seen some pretty interesting people over the years. As usual, classical music filled the room. There was a portait of MacGregor Mathers on the front wall. And there was a book waiting for me: "Tarot Therapy, Vol. 1" by Steve Hounsome (btw, when are you going to write those other two volumes, Mr. Hounsome..?).
A moment later I saw Cilla Conway entering the shop. Me and
oolatus had enjoyed her company during our previous visit to London in April -07. She is as charming as a person can possibly be, and her smile could melt down a glacier. Talking tarot and art therapy with her over a cup of cappuccino got both of us losing track of time. We then moved down to Dean Street where I had a tasty pizza at the Pizza Express. It was then time to get ready for Pixie's birthday celebration at Treadwell's.
Treadwell's is something which I would call 'cozy'. It's like stepping into someone's living room - with a lot of books! Downstairs of the shop contains a room where courses, lectures and workshops are held. The room was filled with chairs, and the event was fully booked. I was positively surprised by the fact that about half of the guests were men; all included I think we summed up somewhere around 40 people present. Christina Oakley Harrington gave us all a warm welcome. She gave a good introduction to Pamela's life and events, and described the circumstances which then led to the creation of the "Rider" deck. By the time she got to the end of her speech it was clear to everyone, I believe, that Pixie is a very dear subject to her.
Second part of the event was conducted by Caroline Wise, who lead us to the wonderful world of Pixie's art. She began her talk by showing us the animation from Madonna's Re-Invention Tour, which shows different Major Arcana cards from the Rider deck coming to life inside a tarot landscape (see my post from 16th Feb.). We then moved to view a slideshow which contained pics from the major works of PCS; the Annancy Stories, the Widdicombe Fair, The Green Sheaf, and of course, the Rider pack. For me personally the best part of the event was to see one of Pamela's paintings in flesh: The Submerged Cathedral. I was aware that PCS and Debussy had been friends, but what I didn't know was that Debussy also wrote a piece called "La Cathédrale Engloutie" which translates as submerged cathedral. I wonder which one came first, the painting or the music. Since it is known that Pixie often painted while listening to music it is likely that the painting came first. Then again..
When entering the room where the event was to take place I noticed that everyone had a tarot card on their seats. Caroline explained that this was a sort of 'extra fun' added to the occasion, and in case the card would somehow relate to ones life or situation, the better. There was no actual interpretation of the cards, everyone was free to decide how to understand it. Mine was Justice. As it is one of my personal favourites of the Major cards I thought it very appropriate (and sure, I did relate to it as well) :)
This was such a good trip. Thank you Cilla, and thank you Christina & Caroline, and everyone at Treadwell's (you know who you are!). I will leave final comment for Pamela Colman Smith. This is from her article "Should the Art Student Think?" which was published in The Craftsman (quote from "Pixie's 129th Birthday Reading" by Mary K. Greer, in TABI's Quarterly E-zine, Spring 2007).
"Note the dress, the type of face; see if you can trace the character in the face; note the pose.... First watch the simple forms of joy, of fear, of sorrow; look at the position taken by the whole body.... After you have found how to tell a simple story, put in more details.... Learn from everything, see everything, and above all feel everything! ... Find eyes within, look for the door into the unknown country."
(image from The Green Sheaf No. 10)
A moment later I saw Cilla Conway entering the shop. Me and
oolatus had enjoyed her company during our previous visit to London in April -07. She is as charming as a person can possibly be, and her smile could melt down a glacier. Talking tarot and art therapy with her over a cup of cappuccino got both of us losing track of time. We then moved down to Dean Street where I had a tasty pizza at the Pizza Express. It was then time to get ready for Pixie's birthday celebration at Treadwell's.
Treadwell's is something which I would call 'cozy'. It's like stepping into someone's living room - with a lot of books! Downstairs of the shop contains a room where courses, lectures and workshops are held. The room was filled with chairs, and the event was fully booked. I was positively surprised by the fact that about half of the guests were men; all included I think we summed up somewhere around 40 people present. Christina Oakley Harrington gave us all a warm welcome. She gave a good introduction to Pamela's life and events, and described the circumstances which then led to the creation of the "Rider" deck. By the time she got to the end of her speech it was clear to everyone, I believe, that Pixie is a very dear subject to her.
Second part of the event was conducted by Caroline Wise, who lead us to the wonderful world of Pixie's art. She began her talk by showing us the animation from Madonna's Re-Invention Tour, which shows different Major Arcana cards from the Rider deck coming to life inside a tarot landscape (see my post from 16th Feb.). We then moved to view a slideshow which contained pics from the major works of PCS; the Annancy Stories, the Widdicombe Fair, The Green Sheaf, and of course, the Rider pack. For me personally the best part of the event was to see one of Pamela's paintings in flesh: The Submerged Cathedral. I was aware that PCS and Debussy had been friends, but what I didn't know was that Debussy also wrote a piece called "La Cathédrale Engloutie" which translates as submerged cathedral. I wonder which one came first, the painting or the music. Since it is known that Pixie often painted while listening to music it is likely that the painting came first. Then again..
When entering the room where the event was to take place I noticed that everyone had a tarot card on their seats. Caroline explained that this was a sort of 'extra fun' added to the occasion, and in case the card would somehow relate to ones life or situation, the better. There was no actual interpretation of the cards, everyone was free to decide how to understand it. Mine was Justice. As it is one of my personal favourites of the Major cards I thought it very appropriate (and sure, I did relate to it as well) :)
This was such a good trip. Thank you Cilla, and thank you Christina & Caroline, and everyone at Treadwell's (you know who you are!). I will leave final comment for Pamela Colman Smith. This is from her article "Should the Art Student Think?" which was published in The Craftsman (quote from "Pixie's 129th Birthday Reading" by Mary K. Greer, in TABI's Quarterly E-zine, Spring 2007).
"Note the dress, the type of face; see if you can trace the character in the face; note the pose.... First watch the simple forms of joy, of fear, of sorrow; look at the position taken by the whole body.... After you have found how to tell a simple story, put in more details.... Learn from everything, see everything, and above all feel everything! ... Find eyes within, look for the door into the unknown country."
(image from The Green Sheaf No. 10)