The Project

Itis my intention for my master’s project to be the initial step into asignificant body of work that has been formulating in the back of mymind for probably most of my life. I grew up in an art studio and learned to draw and paint by direct observation. In my first college printmaking survey class I discovered woodcut printing and have been near obsessed ever since. I’vealso studied Tarot and metaphysics since adolescence so it’s onlynatural that I should eventually come around to combining my artisticand spiritual interests.

Iwas babysitting in the mid 1970s and the kids were asleep; seeking torelieve the boredom I scanned the client’s bookshelves and came acrossa book on Tarot. The cover image was intriguingand a quick scan of the contents compelling so I sat down and read itwhile the client’s children dreamed. The client was surprised on her return to find me wide awake. Realizing I’d been inspired by her library, she pulled out an unopened Rider-Waite Tarot and gifted the deck and book to me. I treasured that gift and practiced with it for over 30 years. Finally in the late 1990s I re-gifted the book and well worn cards to another artist who was developing her own tarot deck. Atthat time I was experiencing life changes; my only child had left homefor military training and I quit my job to use his unused collegesavings to resume my own interrupted education.

Whileheld captivated in an intense art history lecture I began to visualizethe mythological ideologies and Tarot based archetypes that were beingdiscussed. It began with imaginary visionscorrelating the lecture discussion to the Day of the Dead art and altarinstallations I’ve been doing for over a decade. These daydreams lead to even more imaginary visions of a Day of the Dead Tarot. It then dawned on me that my medium, woodcut printing, would materialize these visions beautifully and could also make a great master’s thesis.

Theconcept I have for my master’s project is to create a Day of the Deadwoodcut edition of the Major Arcana of a Tarot (the first 22 trumpcards, numbers 0-21). Eventually I intend tomake the whole deck but each card requires much meditation and study todevelop poignant symbolism so it will take several years to completeall 78 cards. The Major Arcana are the most involved cards and are the foundati on for the rest of the deck. They are iconic representations of the best and worst qualities of humanity. Some new age groups claim that they are catalysts for initiation into increasingly higher levels of spiritual growth. Iwant the cards I create to tie the aspects of the Day of the Dead, anindigenous cultural event and the Tarot, a European concept. Iintend to develop this deck using iconography from my Chicano andIndigenous ancestry as well incorporate symbols from my European andModern American cultural background. Since mostarchetypes and symbols are universal I should be able to find anddevelop a wealth of cross cultural transformational imagery.

Thesecards will not be laminated so they will not be appropriate fordivination, rather they will be a non linear book that can be used formeditation, self reflection and artistic appreciation. Iintend for each card of this Tarot to stand on it’s own as anindividual work of art and still be able to cohesively fit in with therest of the collective as pages in a loose leaf picture book.

Each card will be produced using the non-toxic Japanese Hanga style of woodcut printing . In this technique a different plywood surface is carved for each color to be used in the image. The mediums used are watercolor paints and rice paste. I in tend to do a 4 color process using Baltic birch plywo od for the keyline (black line art) matrix and “Easy Cut ^® ” for the primary color fields. I will work in transparencies of primary col ors to create overlapping lines that produce secondary colors. The primary colors I will use are Thalo Blue, Alizarin Crimson and Lemon Yellow. I will print each image onto heavyweight fine art paper that is approx imately 4”x7” with 4 deckled edges.

I will complete a 1 ^st edition of 10 sets of Major Arcana in two years by cutting the block and printing a new card each month. E ach set of the edition will be presented in its own custom handmade clamshell box to house and protect it.

I hope during the course of this project that I w ill find a deeper level of self actualization that will help me to develop my personal artistic style. I also hope to refine my artistic skill and craftsmanship.