I’m not sure how long the idea to hand paint my own tarot deck has been brewing. It’s a bit like when I write…it is there in the back of my mind before the timing is right to bring it forward. In any case, I got serious about this huge undertaking sometime in 2020.
I had always loved art and colour, but my technique was rusty. Where on earth would I start…where I always start, with learning and relearning. I spent over a year in art classes, brushing up on what I remembered from senior school and learning about colour, composition, perspective, blending with acrylics and painting with watercolour and Indian Ink. What a journey it has been…an absolute love despite the daunting task of attempting to hand paint 78 tarot cards.
Most tarot decks are created with imagery and graphic design. There are a few beautiful hand painted decks, and you’ll know them when you see them. The late Poppy Palin’s Everyday Enchantment Tarot is one. When hand painting, there are no shortcuts. Each card is literally a painting. So while it’s challenging, hand painting my tarot is also incredibly meaningful. It is also done from pure creativity, and that process allows for psychic ability to flow. It allows for many pathways and directions and the choices I make in these cards incorporate not only traditional tarot meanings, but a clairvoyance too.
Simply put, hand painting my own tarot deck has been, and is, a labor of love for me that draws together such creativity and spiritual connection that it generates anticipation that is quite unexpected.