Creativity Friday: Sacred World Oracle – a work in progress

Being post-book publication means moving onto new publications. As might be expected, I’ve got several new ideas simmering along here at the studio. The latest is a new card deck, the Sacred World Oracle. Though it’s still a work-in-progress.I’m happy to announce that I’ve recently posted a new website for it, which offers a three card oracle reading with the deck.

The Sacred World Oracle has been under development for some time now — in fact, before I began work on Doomed Queens. But, as then as now, the Sacred World was one of several projects I was working on at that time. As it turned out, Doomed Queens sold first, and moved up the line toward fruition. So the Sacred World Oracle got back-burnered — until now.

The Sacred World Oracle utilizes myth, folklore, and nature as a means of wisdom and guidance. It is intended to reflect the beauty and diversity of the earth. The cards uses sixteen paintings from my book Sacred Animals as a starting point. Right now, there are forty cards; I plan to eventually add more.

Here are a few of the cards from the Sacred World Oracle:

You can view the rest here.

Like any creative project, the Sacred World Oracle will evolve over time. I’m still working on the text and meanings for the cards. The art still needs to be refined a bit, but I’m basically content with the design — the cards are meant to invoke the richness of a Renaissance manuscript illumination. I’m also not sure what I eventually intend to do with the Sacred World Oracle. I’m torn between seeking a traditional publisher, as I have with my previous oracle decks; or self-publishing it as an iPhone application or even as a digital download. Lately, a strong part of me is eager to expand into being more entrepeneural with some of my publications (though I have no illusions about the difficulties of distribution and beyond).

For now, it’s gratifying to share the Sacred World Oracle in its current state while I figure this out this conundrum. By doing so, I hope it become clearer what my next creative step will be. Any and all feedback welcome!

Click here to try a free reading with the Sacred World Oracle.

• Filed under creativity, new projects, tarot and oracles | 9 Responses

Bookmaking and publishing workshops. (Or, William Morris would approve. I hope.)

When I first opened my little studio-gallery here in Brooklyn, I had an ideal. (Well, don’t we all?) I thought of William Morris and his ideals:

With the arrogance of youth, I determined to do no less than to transform the world with Beauty. If I have succeeded in some small way, if only in one small corner of the world, amongst the men and women I love, then I shall count myself blessed.”

Using these words as his true north, William Morris designed fabric, stained glass windows, furniture, houses, books and so much more — including a utopian vision of how humans can transform their world through their ideals. Anyone who’s spent any time with me knows how deeply Morris’s work has influenced my own as a bookmaker. I’ve long fantasized about having my own Red House and Kelmscott Press; to create publications of surpassing beauty and integrity.

As for my studio-gallery, I aim for my small corner of the world to be a haven for beauty and inspiration, albeit on a much smaller scale than what Morris accomplished. (I know what I’m doing here can’t possibly compare to his staggering achievements, but one has to have aspirations, right?) I’ve decorated Kris Waldherr Art and Words in the style of an arts and crafts atelier, complete even with Morris-upholstered cushions and drapes. So far, we’ve been open to the public for just over six months. During this period, we’ve held exhibitions, a political fundraiser, tarot salons, a children’s art workshop and hallowe’en party, a film festival. We’ve also drunk wine and absinthe, talked about art, writing, and politics, and done our best to encourage an active arts community. Most memorably, we’ve met many wonderful, warm, talented people whom we probably would not have crossed paths with otherwise.

And starting this spring, we move onto including bookmaking and publishing workshops, here in our studio-gallery in bucolic Victorian Brooklyn.

These workshops will be personally taught by me. One class will be for children. Two others are for adults, and utilizes my twenty-plus years of professional experience. We’re keeping class sizes small, so I can give each participant individualized attention. Learn more here.

It’s all part of our mission at Kris Waldherr Art and Words to create beauty. I hope William Morris would approve. And I hope to see some of you here!

• Filed under be-mused, creativity, events, news & muse, publishing, publishing 101, studio and gallery | 3 Responses

Publishing Monday: Getting to yes, part two

The first part of this Publishing Monday post generated some great comments. It seems we all have our publishing sagas, some which made us feel more vulnerable than we would like. (Such appears to be the nature of the author’s path, alas!) This comment especially touched me:

For writing that you have poured your heart and sweat into, and believed in 100%, how did you get past the rejections and not let it undermine your belief in your creativity? How do you push past the doubts and remain optimistic that you will find someone who does appreciate what you have to offer?”

Let me parse this. First off, there have been no projects that I believed in 100% — maybe 99%. I’m too aware that every book I create can be improved, or has some chink in its armor. I always wish I could do a better job as an artist and author or designer. Other times, these vulnerabilities are beyond my control. Even when you get a “yes” from a publisher, things can go wrong. I once had a book published the week of 9/11 — and promptly go out of print. (Clearly it wasn’t the right time for gifty illustrated books.) Another instance: A publisher fired their entire sales staff just as my publication was about to go on the market. Publishing imprints go in and out of fashion, as do entire market segments. It’s never personal, though it affects us personally.

That written, there have been projects that I loved beyond 100% (if such a thing is possible), and had dashed hopes. Sometimes these hopes may have been commercial — hey, I’m still waiting for my New York Times Bestseller. Other times my frustrated aspirations have been artistic. There’s always a certain amount of heartbreak when a book goes to press, wishing that I could have done more, been better. But that’s just the nature of the beast.

As for the doubts that arise from rejections, you try to make them work for you. Believe it or not, rejections and doubts can be our friends, if we treat them kindly; they can coexist with optimism. The trick is not to be deterred from moving forward. Since no piece of work is ever 100% for me, my willingness to continually evaluate my work helps me remain optimistic. I’m not one to sit around and wait to be discovered, if you know what I mean.

To illustrate this, let me give you a story of one publishing “yes.” My novel, The Lover’s Path, was the product of a decade’s labor. Toward the end of this period, I began to work with a literary agent, who patiently guided me through structuring and refining my book. It was an exhaustive process, with more manuscript revisions than I can recall.

You can imagine how happy I was when my agent finally declared the book ready for submission. She sent it out to about a dozen publishers. Within a week, she called to say that my book would be going to committee at several of them. (At most houses, going to committee means that a book is being bumped up the chain on the acquisitions process.) Hopefully one of them would come through with an offer. I was elated and ready to pop out the champagne.

But an offer didn’t arrive. We did another round of submissions. Again, more interest — then more rejection letters. (I’ll go into the reasons for rejection in next week’s post.) I was heartbroken, dejected and beyond, after so much hard work.

Believe me, I considered giving up, even changing careers. But I didn’t. Instead, I called my agent. “I think it’s clear that my book is not as compelling as we hoped,” I said. “I’d rather pull it off the market to rework it, and try again later.”

It took me about a year, but I did revamp my book, taking into consideration all those rejections and the doubts they expressed. This time, The Lover’s Path sold to Harry N. Abrams Books for a nice advance. It was a happy ending to a decade-long saga.

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Next week, I’ll give you another publishing “yes” story, but one with an easier and happier trajectory. And to show you that not every book I work on ends with acceptance, I’ll even throw in a tale of unrequited woe. Yup, I’ve got unsold manuscripts rotting away in deep storage, though I often end up dusting them off and reworking them into new life at a later date.

I had intended to tie up everything neatly today about getting to yes. But I can see that there’s still at least another week’s worth of material! Again, if you have any questions or comments, I’ll do my best to address them in my next Publishing Monday.

Another announcement: This spring, we’re going to be offering workshops at my studio-gallery on publishing and putting together book proposals for picture, gift, and art publications. Spaces will be extremely limited. I’ll be unveiling our offerings later this week. In the meantime if you’re interested in learning more, please send an e-mail to kris [at] kriswaldherr dot com.

• Filed under events, lover's path, publishing, publishing 101, studio and gallery | 3 Responses

Creativity Friday: Do difficult times bring out the best in artists?

A recent ARTnews article pondered this question, wondering if hard financial times encourage a new creativity — a golden age, if you will, for the arts. They use the example of 1989’s recession, which saw the rise of new forms of art that focused on identity and gender, on spirituality and multiculturalism, culminating in the infamous 1993 Whitney Biennial:

“A number of prominent critics predicted that the economic nosedive could be a good thing for the art world at large — “a vital correction,” in the words of one, for an age of excess, and an opportunity for new talent and creativity to rise from the ashes of an overheated market.”

In the article, David Ross, one-time director of the Whitney Museum, states “When the economy falters, there can be a remarkable growth of seriousness in art.”

What are your thoughts? Is this recession a step toward a new-and-improved art world? Or is going to lead to a new generation of discouraged creative professionals?

As for myself, I agree with Christopher Knight, art critic for the Los Angeles Times. His take? “I’d say the bohemian fantasy is sweet and sentimental, but rather insulting to artists.” Um, yeah. From personal experience, I can tell you while hard times can trigger works of astonishing creative power — Bauhaus Germany comes to mind — artists work better when well fed. That ideal of Mimi and Rodolph in the cold garret is so very nineteenth century.

Read the full ARTnews article here.

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The Death card © Karen Zuegner 2009. It’s taken from her Hard Times Tarot, which is currently under development.

• Filed under be-mused, creativity, the art world | 6 Responses

Doomed Queens (and me) on Fascinating Authors

I was recently interviewed by Penny Sansevieri over on Fascinating Authors. We talked about DOOMED QUEENS — and it was a lot of fun!

A little about Fascinating Authors:

Fascinating Authors is syndicated to over twenty-seven podcast directories and has featured some of the hottest authors and was one of the first Internet sites dedicated solely to podcasting your favorite (and soon to be favorite) authors. Join us as we bring bestselling novelists, industry experts, new and exciting writers directly to your desktop.

Check out the podcast here. (BTW, the podcast is about 10 minutes long.)

• Filed under be-mused, queens, reviews + press | 5 Responses