Tag Archives: art

Tarotcast Week of August 6, 2017

The Talking Skull, above, and the sculptures below are by the artist Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller. Fuller is considered to be a forerunner of the Harlem Renaissance. After art school in Philadelphia she moved to Paris and became a protégé of Auguste Rodin. In Paris, her artistic ability was nurtured and exalted.  However, on her return to the US her art was considered “domestic,” and she was shunned by the Philadelphia art scene. ( I am not exactly sure what “domestic” means but a polite way of being racist and sexist in the early 1900’s in the Northeast.)

Fuller’s work was not limited to the reflection of the African American experience. For instance, she made a religious sculpture annually, but many of her pieces were political in nature and some did express the African American experience at the turn of the 1900 century.  I see that sculpture above as not only a way Meta spoke to the world about a certain people’s history but also how she understood and beautiful articulated the complexity of emotions of a human questioning death.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

 

*Aries – High Priest –  Last week, The Star card advised you to slow down and do some much needed healing and breathing. This week the High Priest is challenging you to continue the intentions of last week, but to do so you will need to create boundaries and structure in your life. Remember the big rule in air flight: put your oxygen mask on yourself before putting it on others.

 


Taurus – Three of Wands – You know last week when the Queen of Swords asked you how to make you your deepest desire happen? Well, you get another week to work on that. Last week you tried to get what you wanted done, and you found that you didn’t have the resources, including time. The Three of Wands is giving you another week to set up the circumstances to get those deepest desires to sail into port with more ease.
Continue reading Tarotcast Week of August 6, 2017

Tarotcast for Week of July 30, 2017

The above collage art is from May Wilson‘s Ridiculous Portrait series. May Wilson left school in ninth grade and went to work as a stenographer. By age 20 she had gotten married and became a housewife in the suburbs of Baltimore Maryland. With her children grown and in her forties, she decided to take a few correspondence courses in the arts which launched her art career.

In 1956, she was introduced to Ray Johnson and became part of his mail art circle. But it wasn’t until  after her divorce at age 61 and a move to New York City did she blossom again. Through her art work and famous parties she became known as the Grandma Moses of the Underground. She is an inspiration that at any age we can recreate who we are if we do not take ourselves too seriously.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.  With your tarotcast are images from May Wilson’s Snowflake and Ridiculous Portrait series.

*Aries – The Star – The Star card is here this week to get you all to slow down and do some much needed healing and breathing. When we slow down we notice the “simpler” things in life that are essential and how amazing they are. For example, the stars are heavenly bodies that can bring us awe, and in the same instance we are made of the same elements. As Carl Sagan said The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff. So your challenge this week is to be as amazed at your existence as you are in the stars’.

Taurus – Queen of Swords – The Queen of Swords is the card of self-truth and realization. This card challenges you to answer honestly – what do you want to happen this week. What is your deepest desire? Rest, happiness, love? And then she challenges you to strategize how to make that happen. Go to bed at a decent hour, make time to hang with friends or family, or make a romantic meal (even if it just with your cat or dog – I can guarantee they will give you some love if you share your dinner with them.)
Continue reading Tarotcast for Week of July 30, 2017

Tarotcast for Week of July 9, 2017

balloon art

Fourth of July parties and parades always seem to have with them the clown that makes balloon animals. I loved them as a kid, but now the sound of the balloons being twisted into shapes makes me run the other way. Artist Masayoshi Matsumoto has taken this children’s party sideshow to an artistic level. He sculpts with rubber and air creating people, toys and a variety of animals such as insects, octopi and water buffalo.

It is amazing to think about balloons and how they keep their shape. Air likes to expand and move. When we blow air into a balloon we are pressurizing it. As we blow more air molecules into a smaller space, the air molecules’ increasing density and movement creates pressure against the balloon, expanding it as the balloon’s sides push back against air.

This action rings true with us too. When the pressure is just right in our lives we expand,  become more resilient and flexible.  How each of us deals with pressure shapes us into our unique selves. However, just like a balloon too much pressure can make us pop. So try to see the pressures in your life as your partners, but remember to gauge the amount you allow in.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

Aries – King of Swords – The King of Swords’ lesson is strategy. This week you will need to use your cunning and good communication skills to gain an advantage. The challenge is that even though you can see the gray areas in an argument you need to make a decision.

Taurus – Eight of Wands – Last week your life needed structure to get things done. This week the Eight of Wands brings a more go with the flow approach to your days. There will be some vital information coming at you this week, so be flexible with your time and keep your eyes and ears open.
Continue reading Tarotcast for Week of July 9, 2017

Tarotcast for Week of June 18, 2017

Each Wednesday, I post on Instagram Art images that resonate with a tarot card or it’s meanings.   I like to ponder the card, the meaning and the art  image on hump-day for insights into our collective consciousness.   For this week for fun and possible insight, I picked images that resonate with your cards or their meanings for this tarotcast. Enjoy.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

Aries – Queen of Cups – The Queen of Cups brings fun and frivolity into your life this week. She challenges you to put away your serious face and begs you to let your quirky, funny side out. Or as they say: this week, let your freak flag fly. The lesson she is trying to convey to you is not to take yourself so seriously. Your friends fell in love with the quirky side of you, not the perfectionist side you try to maintain in public.

*Taurus – Hangman – The Hangman’s lessons is about stopping your regular life to take a detour and/or gain a totally different perspective. This week your regular life is on hold. This might be as simple as getting caught in traffic and will need to find an alternate path home. Or it can be as complex as deciding to do something totally different this week than following your normal schedule. The big lesson with this card is that this 90 degree turn should give you a new perspective and enlighten you, so when you get back to your normal routine you will have rebooted.
Continue reading Tarotcast for Week of June 18, 2017

Tarotcast for week of May 14, 2017

Happy Birthday Taurus! Taurus is generally represented as the most stable and the most stubborn of the astrological signs. However, I am friends with them because they enjoy being silly. A prime example of a silly Taurus is Edward Lear, born May 12, 1812. Edward, was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author, and poet. He is best remembered for his nonsense poem Owl and The Pussycat. He also popularized limericks, was the first major bird artist to draw from living birds instead of just their preserved skins, and he was a prolific landscape artist. Also, he was known to introduce himself as “Mr Abebika kratoponoko Prizzikalo Kattefello Ablegorabalus Ableborinto phashyph” or “Chakonoton the Cozovex Dossi Fossi Sini Tomentilla Coronilla Polentilla Battledore & Shuttlecock Derry down Derry Dumps” which he based on a game from Aldiborontiphoskyphorniostikos.

The nonsense world has no comprehensive system of logic, although it implies that there is a mysterious one just beyond our grasp. Even though the nonsense world has strange creatures and fantasy destinations, it does not follow the fantasy moral norms of good versus evil or happily ever after. And even though it makes us think the way riddles do, it has no answers, or like jokes it can make us laugh but there is no punch line. This genre is most easily recognizable by using various techniques like misuse of grammar or faulty cause and effect to balance meaning and lack of meaning. So, I have begun reading the news and tweets coming out of the White House as nonsense literature. It has improved my mood, though not my sense of reality.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

Aries – Nine of Swords – More mind “fullness” this week with the Nine of Swords. This card is about worries. With all the thinking you have been doing during the past three weeks, it’s no wonder your brain is over-worked! Your challenge from the Nine of Swords is to get Zen with your thoughts. Your brain needs the rest. Find solutions for the things you can and let the rest go.

*Taurus – Six of Pentacles and The Lovers – Finally, the big card for your birthday month and the coming year – The Lovers, and with it the Six of Pentacles. The Lovers’ lessons are around collaboration and the give and take of relationships. And to reiterate that you got the Six of Pentacles, whose lesson is that what you give out, you receive back in threefold. The advice for this coming year is to really look at the relationships you want in your life and enhance the positive you are giving to them, because you will get it back threefold. The only challenge is that negative energy works that way too. So, be aware that negative in is three times negative out.
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Tarotcast for week of March 5, 2017

I don’t know about you but I needed a little clever humor in my life when I stumbled upon Michael Pederson. He is a street artist who makes mundane spots into places for reflection and for smiles. (I do recommend going to his site to truly see the context of his art.)

I have a fondness for street art in general. It in its purest form it is made for the public. Art for the masses. I love it because it always surprises me when I see it. It becomes a gift from an unknown person. I feel special by seeing it – for paying attention – for looking up and around at my world – for finding a treasure left by a stranger.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

Aries – Four of Pentacles – This week, you will need to navigate how to use your resources wisely. Try not to spend all your energy in the beginning of the week or on the first project you encounter. This week pace yourself, so that you don’t hurt someone’s feelings when you get frustrated about not having enough time or energy to spread around.

Taurus – Seven of Pentacles – Put on your gloves and get to work. If you keep a steady pace this week, you will get loads done. The challenge with the Seven of Pentacles is in dealing with feeling overwhelmed with all you have to do. The best way to tackle projects is to divide them up into small chunks. Instead of seeing the whole garden that needs to be tended to, just do the tomato row, then the lettuce row, then the carrots…
Continue reading Tarotcast for week of March 5, 2017

Tarotcast for week of October 9, 2016

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Above is an image from the series Tema e Variazioni by Piero Fornasetti (10 November 1913 – 9 October 1988). He created over 500 items using just the face of Lina Cavalieri.  She was an operatic soprano in the late 1800s. Piero found her image in a magazine to use in his art. When he was asked why he made so many art pieces of her, he replied, “I don’t know. I began to make them and never stopped.”

I think that I have a similar study of my cat. After cleaning up my hard drive last week – cleaning out duplicate and blurry photos – I found I have 98 distinct pictures of my cat. They vary only in my cat lying down, sitting by the window, or curled up in a chair to the left or to the right. So why keep them? Well, each picture was slightly different in the way his head was turned or how his paw was just so over his face. I love my cat and each picture represented a bit of what he is as a whole being.

I believe that this is a lesson in the many faces of existence. Maybe we all need to turn a more discerning and inquisitive eye when someone whips out 20 photos of their pet or child. Instead of seeing these photos as boring or obsessive, to see these images as an expression of the many facets of life and love that one person sees in another being.

P.S. For all you email subscribers who click to my site, there will be a little something extra in your email box in a couple of weeks. Remember, when signs have * it’s a big week for you.

plate-tema-e-variazioni-082Aries – Eight of Cups – This week the Eight of Cups’ lesson is about lightening your load. This is a great week to clean your closet, do paperwork, clean off that desk, and clean out your email boxes. Or, if you want to do some heavy lifting, re-evaluate the emotional baggage you are carrying. The Eight of Cups asks: Do you really want to carry around and keep opening the “junk or hate mail”?

fornasetti_piatto_bigTaurus – Eight of Pentacles – The Eight of Pentacles continues the message of work and contemplation for this week. So you can still ponder where or what do you want to be/do by 2018. But here is the twist – to this reflection in the most beneficial way – you need to get some alone time and keep your hands busy. It’s that “getting into the zone” that really is the birth place of your epiphanies.
Continue reading Tarotcast for week of October 9, 2016