About

I am Ian Cumpstey, based in Cumbria in the north-west of England.

My cards, my books, my music.

I am interested in the history of playing cards and tarot cards, in the development of classic regional styles. My playing cards and tarot cards are often adaptations of historical or regional card styles. Any research I do into the history of playing cards or tarot will find its way into my card art. I am keen to create new versions and interpretations, rather than recreations of specific older cards.

The first set of playing cards I drew was the Inglewood Hunting Deck. These are very nonstandard cards with suits of animals and birds, prints of my watercolour paintings. I drew these cards after I saw the Ambras hunting deck, a set of (unfinished) handmade playing cards from medieval Germany. The cards do not look like playing cards at all, yet they can be used to play standard card games. This is how it started.

My novel, The Language of Birds, is original fantasy fiction written in the form of a collection of myths, set in a sparsely inhabited, loosely Cumbrian landscape. I have also published books with translations of traditional Scandinavian storytelling songs (so-called medieval ballads), mainly working out of Swedish (I lived and worked in Sweden for several years). My other books of Norse / Scandinavian interest are The Saga of Didrik of Bern (some episodes of which are paraphrased in some of the ballads), and Stories from Saxo, which makes selected stories from the work of Danish historian Saxo more accessible, particularly those that are related to Norse myth.

You may have seen me out and about in Cumbria (or beyond) playing music. I play and sing with guitar and banjo, my songs are in the area of country, folk, and blues. More recorded music will follow soon.