Nautical Tarot and Art Nouveau

May is a beautiful month, but I am so glad that it is almost over!

There have been several deadlines converging over the past few weeks, along with three shows that managed to swallow my weekends, and I am woefully behind on my blog updates. Fortunately, I do have Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep everybody reasonably informed. ;)

First of all, the May auction over at the Rabbit Hole Artist Collective is in full swing. This month’s theme is “Art Nouveau” and I was inspired by all the activity in my garden, of course! :)

Art Nouveau Inspired “Spring” Cat Portrait

Image may be NSFW.
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This is an acrylic painting on thick Cold Press paper, measuring approximately 8″x10.5″. It comes signed, sealed, and with a Certificate of Authenticity.

Here is a photo of it in my sunny window, to better show the metallic gold paint (that didn’t scan well).

Image may be NSFW.
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I had a fun challenge trying to interpret the Art Nouveau style (which is very different from my own!), but I liked the stained-glass effect, and I will definitely continue experimenting with this style. In fact, I titled this portrait “Spring” in hopes that I will be able to create the additional three seasons sometime this year.

The original is up for auction here on the Rabbit Hole’s album on Facebook. The auction runs until May 30th. Prints will also be available soon!

78Tarot Nautical NOW on Kickstarter

The biggest piece of news (at this moment) is that our sequel 78Tarot Project has launched on Kickstarter!

For those of you who haven’t been following this project… it began last year, when a group of artists (led by Kayti Welsh) got together and decided to do a collaborative Tarot deck, with each person contributing one card. Seventy eight artists were assembled for that first deck, hence its title. My friend, fellow cat artist Carrie Hawks, extended an invite to me. :)

I was honored to create “The Five of Pentacles”, and to be included alongside notable fantasy artists as Jasmine Becket-Griffith, Meredith Dillman, Tiffany Toland-Scott, and of course, a legend in fantasy art circles, Mr. Larry Elmore (known for his work with TSR, Dungeons & Dragons, and the Dragonlance Saga, among other things).

This year, we are back! Our 2nd deck has a Nautical theme, which was chosen by the backers of our first Kickstarter project. We also have several new artists on board.
With the success of last year’s deck, there were many artists interested in participating, and a few who sadly weren’t able to return for personal reasons.

This new deck includes new original artwork from well-known fantasy artists Amy Brown, Selina Fenech, Stephanie Law, Michael Banks, Ash Evans, Alex Garant… and my personal friend and fellow Rabbit Hole Artist, Bernadette Lusk, who joined at the 13th hour! :)

(I wanted to say “fellow Rabbit Hole” just to hear Bernadette howl “WHICH HOLE AM I?!” ~ hehe!)

This year, I was given “The Five of Wands” to paint in my own style. Done in acrylics on Cold Press paper, measuring 8″x12″, here is “Treasure Cave” (a.k.a. Five of Wands).

Image may be NSFW.
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The Five of Wands symbolizes “competition and disagreement”, and is typically shown with five figures waving staffs at each other as if in combat, but nobody is getting hurt.
This card appears in a reading when you are involved in a team effort that is being undermined by lack of direction, “too many chiefs”, or conflicting agendas. It can also refer to the pressure to perform well when you are part of a group. One website described it as “going for the gold”, which immediately brought to mind a band of pirates on a quest for treasure!

I borrowed the figures’ positions from the traditional Rider-Waite deck, so it will hopefully be recognizable to those familiar with Tarot. They are holding torches, because I couldn’t imagine pirates waving wands… although I had a laugh with friends over the idea of “Harry Potter pirate cats”! LOL
The suit of wands is represented by the element of fire, so it worked perfectly. :)

Image may be NSFW.
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These prints are being included in the “Mystery Art Grab Bags” ($100 worth of art goodies from participating artists) which are available for a pledge of $75.00; this Reward Tier also includes (1) 78 Tarot Nautical Deck (with booklet of card meanings), a PDF file of the Tarot & Art Book (which is also available in hardcover for a $150 level pledge), (2) Random 4 X 6 Mini Prints of Nautical Artwork, (1) Random Magnet, along with access to backers-only updates and your name listed in the book and website.

In less than 24 hours after going live, the deck was 50% funded…. and we are at 79% as I hit Submit on this post, with three weeks left to go! Our collective fans have been incredibly supportive for both of these decks. :)

There are a ton of cool prizes and Rewards that are only available through the Kickstarter campaign, and you must act quickly! Some of these Rewards are snatched up within a day or two.

The Kickstarter ends on June 17th, at which point (if the project is successfully funded) the remaining decks will be individually sold at retail price, without all the cool add-ons.

If you have any questions about 78Tarot itself, or the Kickstarter project, you can message Kayti on Kickstarter or the official 78Tarot Facebook page.
I am not in charge of this project! LOL I’m merely one of the many artists who was grateful to be given an opportunity to participate and create a special piece for the deck. :)

Speaking of Kickstarter projects, I will begin working on my own sequel to last year’s 2015 Literary Cats calendar soon! I hope to begin putting together the 2016 Cats Calendar over this summer, and launch the Kickstarter in September. Stay tuned! =^,,^=