Monster Summer

For twenty five years I have toyed with creating a deck of Tarot cards. I never quite get there, never quite find my true vision. This summer, when I started thinking about my thesis, one idea was to revisit making a deck. What if rather than getting models involved (a hard proposition for the COVID-19 era between locations, costumes, and, well, my 8-5 work week commitment), what if I created the models? I could take my love for weird animal human hybrids and create sculptures for each card. And happily I began to learn how to sculpt (which is, like drawing, therapeutic when there is no time constraint) and design my characters. Toward the end of July, I realized that the project was just too big for my thesis timeline.

But I did create drafts of two cards. Since this is a bit of a departure from my landscapes, I entered them in both a juried show (rejected) and a journal (accepted). In hindsight, the cards didn’t really fit the theme of the juried show (in seeing a few other artists who were accepted, the juror seems to prefer a more literal interpretation of nature).

So, I’m pleased that my Star card is part of Monster Summer in From Whispers to Roars: An Art and Literary Magazine based in Denver, CO. Many thanks to the editor and others involved with making this creative endeavor happen. Please click on the link and enjoy this imaginative volume.

Oh, and if you need a primer on the symbolism found on my cards, leave a comment.