Death can be our friend, and my version embraces the figure as an Agent of Change. The central image is radical enough that I felt some classical card elements were needed, and so on the right side of the card, and including the river with its toy boat indicating our journey on the waters of Time, everything is derived directly from RWS, only fed through a circus sensibility. The spirit of the little circus boy is holding the white rose that appears on the flag in Pamela Coleman Smith's drawing. The sun rising over twin mountains (here represented by the Big Top) is an important element in the message of Change -- is it Dusk, or is it, as I prefer to believe, Dawn? Either way, it seemed appropriate to use a clock face to represent that celestial body, and this clockface is taken from the Grandfather Clock that I lived with for most of my life in my mother's house. I was such a little boy when she bought that clock that I could actually climb inside the mechanism casing. For many years, its strident bell punctuated my days and nights. "Time and Motion Wait for No Man."
Although the card takes a generally light approach to the subject, I did feel the need to express the emotions of grief and regret -- and the Mourning painting that used to hang in my mother's room came immediately to mind as the perfect element, not only because of its subject but for the personal significance it held. That -- and also, it's really two words, isn't it? "Mourning," yes, but also "Morning."
I hope you like my card designs. Next up, THE WHEEL.
-- Freder
www.ducksoup.me
