Three more Bird People tarot cards for today’s Friday! Now that I’m getting closer to finishing this deck, predictable anxiety is surfacing about the very act of being done with something. It’s like the feeling of not working on this deck anymore is the most depressing crushing thing ever and this is when I generally stop working on something all together. Which is probably one of the reasons why I work on a million things at once in the first place. I've done this with TV shows too, refusing to watch the last couple episodes of an entire series because I can’t stand that’s it’s all over. I won't do that to the The Bird People Tarot Deck no matter what my crazy inner dialogue comes up with.

Upright Meanings:
Order
Control
Power
Stability
Confidence

Reversed Meanings:
Self-righteous tyranny
Fallen hero
Lack of progress
Prejudice
Peter Pan Syndrome

Upright Meanings:
Equality
Purposefulness
Apprenticeship
Dedication
Cautious investing

Reversed Meanings:
Cutting corners
Lack of commitment
Dishonesty
Insincerity
Neglectful

Upright Meanings:
Triumph
Good news
Wise decisions
Success
Teamwork

Reversed Meanings:
Defeat
Red tape
Feeling unimportant
A Trojan horse
Hiding your laurels

On Black Friday, it somehow feels appropriate to post three new Bird People Tarot cards.

Pleas enjoy!

Upright Meanings:
Loyal
Midas touch; material realm only
Conservatism
Traditional values
Financial advisor

Reversed Meanings:
Corruption
Weakness
Irrational
Unfortunate
Misery

Upright Meanings:
Awakening
Renewal
Upheaval
Transformation
Breaking with convention

Reversed Meanings:
Fear of change
A forced ending
Procrastination
Alienation
Faint-heartedness

Upright Meanings:
Transformation through willpower
Creative
Talented
Diplomacy
Focused energy

Reversed Meanings:
Weakness of will
Negative
Confused
Selfish behavior
Overconfidence

I know.

It’s been a long while since I’ve poked my head out of my rabbit hole and shown the world what I’ve been working on. Since July, I had been obsessively working on The Museum Series Shorebirds Edition (diorama paintings-19 pieces in that series and far from finished) but about a month ago, I answered to my (probably) undiagnosed ADHD and started refocusing on The Bird People Tarot Deck for a bit. I’ve posted three new cards from the deck, that mark my words, I am finishing in this lifetime(!) With additional big plans of having the deck professionally printed for folks to purchase. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my current work.

Upright Meanings:
Secrets
Mystery
Intuitive awareness
Going with the flow
Good judgement
Reversed Meanings:
Gossip
Disloyalty
Not listening to your inner voice
Insincerity
Coldness

Upright Meanings:
Haste
Journey
Commercial transactions
Full steam ahead
New ideas
Reversed Meanings:
Motionless
Arrows of jealousy
Stings of conscience
Wasted energy
Being too pushy

Upright Meanings:
Self-restraint
Tolerance
Compromise
Moderation
Consoling
Reversed Meanings:
Competition
Mood shifts
Gluttony
Extremism
Frustration

Along with the 3,000 other art series I have started, I’m determined to finish at least one of them before the world literally implodes. The Bird People Tarot Deck. And the Museum series dioramas centering around shorebirds. Two of the 3,000 at least.

Bird People Tarot: I have some new watercolor backgrounds I thought I’d share. I have thrown away more false starts that became muddy hellscapes than I really care to admit (about 20) but it’s just paper. Expensive paper, but just paper nonetheless. Best to let the ones that got pushed too far in the wrong direction GO. One of the backgrounds turned into a new tarot card so all was not lost!

The Chariot card was a real tricky one to tackle. There’s a lot of symbolism in this one, and trying to explain all that; it got a bit cluttered really fast and I’m still unsure about it. I've posted what the Chariot card looks like from the traditional Waite-Rider deck for comparison.

Living inside the world of color and all its combinations/possibilities these past couple months has been beyond therapeutic. I think I’ll stay there all summer. Maybe fall too. Thanks for stopping by!

Upright Meanings:
Clear purpose
Balancing conflicting emotions
Use of inner will
Self control
Ambition

Reversed Meanings:
Out of control
Imbalance
Anxiety
Repression
Moodiness

More Bird People Tarot cards today. Over Easter celebrations, my sister was asking how many cards I have made already and how many are left to go.

Completed Tarot cards: 39
Uncompleted Tarot cards: 39

She also asked if I have any particular order I go in. That's also a great question. I go in order of what the images I look for in books and magazines take me.

In another life, when I worked at a certain toy company, I would do a lot of hunting and digging for art illustrations and resources that were already created by artists/illustrators that had been hired for our various books and magazines. If those artists/illustrators couldn't make new art for a game or animation we were working on, I'd have to go and look for art we already "owned" to use in the feature; to keep costs down and maintain continuity. That meant lots of hunting, pecking, scanning illustrations and doing a lot of art surgery to keep everything on brand. I really loved that part of the work I did (and all the animation I got to do) and I think about it a lot while I'm looking for the pieces of these tarot cards in all my old books and magazines. It's a long organic process that would probably give super organized people who love Excel hives, but that's creativity. Messy, time doesn't matter, complete disarray and complete chaos.

Upright Meanings:
Good cheer
Invitation
Sensitivity
Emotional renewal
Peace
Reversed Meanings:
Instability
Unhappiness
Nobody loves me
Egotism
Conditional love

Upright Meanings:
Abundance
Relying on oneself
Solitary affluence
Maturity
Circumspection
Reversed Meanings:
Insecurity
Unwise decisions
Dishonest people
Guilt
Overindulgence

Upright Meanings:
Celebration
Entertainment
Having fun
Plenty for all
Recovery
Reversed Meanings:
A setback
An accident
Addiction
Alcoholism
Selfishness