The Hierophant

There are twenty-two cards in the Major Arcana of a Tarot deck, starting at zero (The Fool) and ending at twenty-one (The World). Yesterday I completed another, the eleventh since I started this project in earnest last January. That means I'm half-way there.

I have chosen not to paint the cards in any particular order, instead choosing them based on my own mood and what is currently inspiring me. A few of them have been inspired by family or friends. Some have been focused on the beautiful animals which have graced my life. The latest one I chose to do, number five in the deck, was the Hierophant. The card itself represents self-awareness, the search for knowledge and the strength of wisdom, rather than intelligence.

I thought it would be suitable, then, for my depiction of the card to have strong elements of Buddhism and my own sense of self-knowledge. I chose an Ox for the animal as it is my Chinese Zodiac sign, and suitably, the year of the Ox has just ended. The Star-Sign represented by the card is Taurus, which I also am.

I didn't know, when I set out to do this card, that I was doing it for myself. It has become just that, however. It represents my desire to question and challenge myself, which I did a lot when painting it. I knew I wanted to have moss growing on the pillars and figuring out a technique for this was fun and produced more than satisfactory results. The Mala beads at the top of the painting were another undertaking I refused to let myself shy from. Individually painting and shading thirty-one beads seemed daunting, but I managed to complete it in one session in only a little over two hours.

The greatest challenge, however, and one I feel I accomplished beautifully, was the face. I have always loved how incredibly soft and gentle the face of an Ox looks. I wanted my Ox to appear velvety. I agonized over how this could be done, prepared to paint and re-paint the face until I got it right. I did all the base painting on one day and left it for several. When I sat down to work on it I felt forced, but in a matter of a few minutes I began to feel the flow. The colour was rich and I found the perfect brushes to capture the texture of the hair.

Now The Hierophant is complete and I cannot seem to stop looking at it. I don't know that I can sell this one. I want to hold on to it for a little bit, at least, especially as it gives me something to hang on the walls of my new room.

In the mean time, I've found a way to sell prints of my work universally, which also includes printing and shipping. Through the support of the creators of FolioTwist, who provide my lovely website, I've discovered RedBubble. There are now links from several of my imaged paintings to my RedBubble account, which will allow you to buy reproductions of my work for as little at $25.00 CAD.

In the next week, as long as the rain lets up eventually, I'll be getting the Hanged Bat and the Hierophant imaged as well, so they will be available for purchase.

Now I just need to decide which card to do next.