Gaian Tarot Artist's Journal

Wordless Wednesday ~ Sentinel

 

 

Summer . . .

Last Friday, I spent several hours on my favorite island, visiting some of my old haunts. It was the first sunny day since we marked Summer Solstice on our calendars.

I sat under a hawthorn tree at the edge of a vast meadow ringed round by evergreens, and gave thanks for this place of sacred solitude. I was utterly alone (no other humans, I mean!) and felt completely safe and cradled by the love of the island. I cloud-gazed. I listened to the song of red-winged blackbirds. I pulled up a clump of wild garlic and deeply inhaled the pungent scent of its bulbs. I noticed the iridescent wings of dragonflies flashing in the light. I felt the sun on my brow and the breeze on my cheeks. I nibbled on a handful of fresh-picked raspberries from a neighbor's garden. I watched a swallowtail butterfly dance up to the tops of tall cedars then circle back down to the meadow again. I gave thanks for this most holy place and time. 

This was my Solstice celebration.

Gaian Tarot on Beyond Worlds / Blog Talk Radio

It was a lot of fun to be on Donnaleigh's show last night!  If you missed it, you can listen to the archived link show here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/beyondworlds/2010/06/27/the-gaian-tarots-joanna-powell-colbert

There's also a player in the left column of this blog. It still works even if it's cut off a bit. 

Donnaleigh also shared a post on her blog about choosing cards from Kat Black's Golden Tarot and my own Gaian Tarot to describe my energy.  <blushing furiously here>

Happy Moon-Day!

My Art Retreat at Sitka

 

Last week I gave myself the gift of an art retreat — five days of getting up and knowing there was nothing on my plate to do except make art, all day long.  Heaven.

I haven’t done any artwork at all since I finished the last Gaian Tarot card last fall. I’ve been wanting to learn the ancient process of encaustic (painting with beeswax) for the past three years, but didn’t allow myself to try it out until I had finished all the GT cards.  I even signed up for an encaustic workshop on Whidbey Island (not too far from me) last September, then had to cancel because I had too many deadlines at the time. 

I became fascinated with the medium when I realized its possibilities — you can build layer upon layer of collage, paint, and embedded objects, with layers of beeswax inbetween.  All the layers are translucent and the bottom layers are somewhat obscured.  You can scribe lines and textures into the wax, and you can scrape back parts of the top layer to reveals color and pattern underneath. 

It’s messy and tactile and makes room for happy accidents. It’s about as different from colored pencil painting as you can get! 

Blog Talk Radio: Beyond Worlds - this coming Sunday!

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be a guest on Beyond Worlds with Donnaleigh de la Rose and Theresa Reed, this coming Sunday June 27th at 4 PM Pacific time, 7 PM Eastern.

We'll be talking about the Gaian Tarot and the Gaian Tarot Circle. You can call in with your questions for me or for short readings.  Sounds like fun.  Hope you'll join us!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Edge of the Western Seas

 

In the Cauldron of Creativity

You may have noticed that I have not been consistent with my blogging for some time now.  There’s a few reasons for that.  I feel like I am in a third-quarter-moon phase of blogging; that’s the time when the old ways of doing things no longer fit, but the new way of doing things is not yet clear.  I have been ruminating for months about changing things up; changing the name of the blog and its design, moving it over to Wordpress, keeping to a regular schedule, brainstorming ideas for posts.  

You see, the title “Gaian Tarot Artist’s Journal” no longer fits me or this blog. I originally started it in 2004 to document my process of creating the cards and to get feedback from readers. Along the way, I started blogging about all sorts of different things that I’m interested in.  Since the Gaian Tarot cards are now done, the blog needs a new name.  But what?
 

Circle Practicum Center

James Wells and Bev Haskins led a Circle Practicum in May.  "As you can see, the Gaian Tarot played a prominent role in creating our beautiful spiritual entre," Bev writes.  A gorgeous altar indeed!  James writes about his circle process work on his blog quite a bit. In the Gaian Tarot Circle, we were recently blessed to experience James' circle work via teleseminar.  It surprised me (shouldn't have, but it did) to find how deep we could go on the phone together.  I'm looking forward to doing more of this kind of work. Blessed be.

Sea Treasure on Solstice Morn

A Blessed Solstice to all, on this longest day of the year. 

For the last several years, I have been rising before dawn on Summer Solstice with a few of my island sisters. We go to a beach on the east side of the island to greet the rising sun on the longest day of the year. (The background on the Elder of Water card is from a photo I took on one such Solstice morning.) This year, alas, I did not make it over to the island to spend the night and the sun is up long before the first ferry arrives at 6 AM. So my island sisters held me there in spirit, and a couple of hours ago they wrote to me:

"We made it to the beach in time to imagine the sun rising as we couldn't see that ball of fire. We sang and acknowledged our gratitude/thanks to the water with Dr. Emoto's water blessing.  We were visited by three oystercatchers, three bald eagles (maybe more), two great blue herons, a kingfisher, purple starfish and a river otter.  The beach was beautiful . . . We chose a card, in your honor (your deck of course) . . . it was 'The Wheel' with the trees in all seasons against the day time sky with night sky surrounding the wheel graced with moons, and the text that reminds us to center ourselves. It was a chilly but beautiful Solstice morning."

A true Moment of Grace. How blessed I am to have such friends.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Mama Ocean, Maiden Moon, Lady Venus

I'm on an art retreat on the Oregon coast.  I took this photo two nights ago from the window of my room.   Deep peace.  Blessed be.