Thoughtful
Oh dear she seems to be an unstoppable force. I wonder if her fairy tarot will be a rehash of her fairy oracle cards. Bit of a cheat if they are.
Doreen Virtue has moved onto Fairies
Zephyros
Why is she using a dead artist's work, though? I'm sure the copyright is all in order and that she might make a digital collage of the pictures... but why?
Dee Ell
Wasn't there a recent release of some something-or-other Tarot of hers that was all very obviously very old greeting card art in which SANTA CLAUS was The Hermit? (Not in an ironic way -- it's not blatantly Santa Claus, you just have to look at the details to see that it is)
So I'm not sure why it's surprising -- it's much faster to slap together a deck of pre-existing images shoehorned into set meanings than create new ones... (and thus: higher profit margins all around)
greatdane
Just asking but....
Has she ever done the artwork on a deck? I noticed there was a post about her using this artist's work who has passed on. But if all is in order, well, I thought someone else always did the artwork for her decks, but I may be mistaken.
I am not surprised about a fairy deck as how many angel decks can one put out? I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything, but really, there are only so many angel decks one can come up with before moving on I would think.
For those who like her decks and will like this artwork, it's great. I think Ms. Barker's art is lovely and whimsical, but I wouldn't get a deck.
Has she ever done the artwork on a deck? I noticed there was a post about her using this artist's work who has passed on. But if all is in order, well, I thought someone else always did the artwork for her decks, but I may be mistaken.
I am not surprised about a fairy deck as how many angel decks can one put out? I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything, but really, there are only so many angel decks one can come up with before moving on I would think.
For those who like her decks and will like this artwork, it's great. I think Ms. Barker's art is lovely and whimsical, but I wouldn't get a deck.
GlitterNova
Noooo!!! Cicely Mary Barker is the artist who did the Flower Fairies, which I hold huge nostalgic and sentimental value for. How dare DV ruin the poor unsuspecting Flower Fairies! Also, Flower Fairy artwork is aimed towards kids. Is this going to be a deck for 5 year old girls? I wonder what Death, The Devil and The Hanged Man are going to become this time...
greatdane
Interesting thoughts, GlitterNova
I do think Ms. Barker's work is lovely, not that that would make me get a deck. I didn't think about it translating to various cards.
I do think Ms. Barker's work is lovely, not that that would make me get a deck. I didn't think about it translating to various cards.
GlitterNova
Yeah, she's going to have to get, uh, 'creative' to fit the images into some of the card meanings. All of the Flower Fairy images are just cute fairy children frolicking with their namesake flowers. No real archetypes to speak of. Let's just say the Victorian Fairy Tarot doesn't need to be worried.
Starshower
Books of Cicily Mary Barker's gorgeous, innocent Flower Fairies, tree fairies, seasonal fairies etc are among my dearest memories from Infants' and Junior School. I lived in a city street, where the only green thing was the lamp post, so I especially adored her exquisite paintings. They are botanically meticulous & correct too - as are the lovely little educational verses about each plant. Happy memories!
I bought the books for my children ... and shall again for my grand baby. Such delightful sweetness and perfect for 3-10 year-olds ... or any age, in fact.
HOW can these books be forced into a tarot format?! The artist would have been horrified - it's such an inappropriate conjunction from both the tarot's & the fairies' points of view!
I have a severe dislike of D Virtue, verging on a phobia. It may be her droning, bored voice or all the fakery of her appearance, or her refusal to engage with the unpleasant aspects of people's experiences in the real world, warts & all ... and certainly the way she uses other people's lovely work to process and add sugar & additives to and then flog to make yet more huge amounts of money. It doesn't seem fair, when there are so many struggling genuine artists & writers out there with things to say, who don't have the whole machine behind them which she has.
But DV doesn't seem to add anything of substance. To me, her decks seem so unnaturally sanitised & sweetened, so sickly, cloying & inane, & just 'cutesy' for the sake of sales.
But one must allow freedom in the market, of course.
If anyone sees any new insights or depth of meaning in her output, please point me to it. I'm quite curious to know if there is any.
Since I LOVE these dear little paintings from my childhood, I feel defensive of them & feel it's a sacrilege to usurp them for personal profit, when all the work was done by the artist many decades ago, in a different world. But perhaps I should just avoid this deck & stop carping. I have my delightful children's books still. 
I bought the books for my children ... and shall again for my grand baby. Such delightful sweetness and perfect for 3-10 year-olds ... or any age, in fact.
HOW can these books be forced into a tarot format?! The artist would have been horrified - it's such an inappropriate conjunction from both the tarot's & the fairies' points of view!
I have a severe dislike of D Virtue, verging on a phobia. It may be her droning, bored voice or all the fakery of her appearance, or her refusal to engage with the unpleasant aspects of people's experiences in the real world, warts & all ... and certainly the way she uses other people's lovely work to process and add sugar & additives to and then flog to make yet more huge amounts of money. It doesn't seem fair, when there are so many struggling genuine artists & writers out there with things to say, who don't have the whole machine behind them which she has.
But DV doesn't seem to add anything of substance. To me, her decks seem so unnaturally sanitised & sweetened, so sickly, cloying & inane, & just 'cutesy' for the sake of sales.
But one must allow freedom in the market, of course.
If anyone sees any new insights or depth of meaning in her output, please point me to it. I'm quite curious to know if there is any.
Since I LOVE these dear little paintings from my childhood, I feel defensive of them & feel it's a sacrilege to usurp them for personal profit, when all the work was done by the artist many decades ago, in a different world. But perhaps I should just avoid this deck & stop carping. I have my delightful children's books still.
Darkmage
I was over at Changing Hands tonight and they had the Essential Doreen Virtue in hardback. I saw it and thought of you guys. <3
I was half tempted to leaf through it but I refrained lest my hands rot and drop off. They have a ton of her decks in the Tarot section, too. I guess they sell. *shrug*
I was half tempted to leaf through it but I refrained lest my hands rot and drop off. They have a ton of her decks in the Tarot section, too. I guess they sell. *shrug*
Dee Ell
Oh, it's THAT artist?!
I *loved* her work when I was younger and in fact still have a card with her Rose Hip Fairy somewhere... That's exactly why DV is using her work: because it's so charming but more importantly, it's in the "public domain" since most of it was done so long ago, which translates directly to MORE MONEY because she doesn't have to pay an artist any licensing or commission fees for their work.
There should be some kind of injunction for these people/companies who have such vast resources for licensing and commissioning work from talented artists (who need the income) yet these people/companies - whose products/income rely *so heavily* on visual art - choose to print free art from artists who can no longer profit from their own work nor prevent it from being usurped for such purposes! Argh! As an artist myself, this kind of capitalism/opportunism *really* gets my back up
