The artist this week is Selma Burke.  Her pieces express an overall emotionality and truthfulness created from her interesting nuanced choices.  Selma’s subject with a furrowed brow conveying the rawness of intention, or the curiosity of raised eyebrows, or the tilt of a child’s head expressing innocence.  With her more experimental pieces like The Torso her choice of figure and tilt articulating a more realistic view of a women’s form, or the tenderness of a mother holding a child.  This is a lesson in the subtleness of choice conveying powerful emotional content.  Each of us effect change in our lives and maybe the more subtle, more nuanced may just have a more lasting a broader effect then we think.

She started her education by becoming a nurse in Raleigh, N.C. and moved to NYC after graduation.  There she became associated with the Harlem Renaissance and began teaching art appreciation and education to New York youth.  Then during the 1930’s she traveled across Europe honing her own artist skills.  By 1940 she opened the Selma Burke School of Sculpture in NYC while graduating from Columbia with her own arts degree.

In 1942 she joined the Navy become one of the first African American women to enroll and worked in the shipyard during the war.  During that time, she won a competition to do a bronze relief of FDR.  Historically this is her most famous and controversial piece.  Many say her piece was the inspiration for the dime; however, it is detested by the artist who designed it.  She returned to roots and from 1968 to 1981 she founded and ran the Selma Burke Art Center in Pittsburgh, continuing to provide art to the youth of the undeserved communities there.

P.S. Signs with an * it a big week for you.  Gemini this is a perfect time to get an Astrological Tarot Reading for your coming year.  And Sagittarius it is your halfway mark for your birth year, so if you need a Planetary Reading for a check in now is the time.

May light be on you, around you, and within you,

Nina

 

Aries

Queen of Wands – This week the energy can invigorate anything you put your focus to.  It also supplies you with the courage and fierceness to take charge of all that you survey.  The challenge is doing it alone.  It is not necessary, but you can if you must.

 

Taurus

*World – The world is your oyster this week.  But it is up to you prying it open to reveal its’ pearls.  This is big energy for moving outcomes into triumphant directions.  The challenge with this card for you Taurus is that you do have the work ethic and commitment to move things to completion.  But are you flexible enough to know when to let it go if it isn’t working or allowing it to evolve into an unknown ending?  To utilize this energy, go for the feeling of a job well done without attaching it to a material completion.

 

Gemini

Two of Swords – Confusion flies through the lines of communication and thought.  This causes stalemates and indecision not only for you but for those around you.  The best way to work with this energy is either flipping a coin or waiting until next week to decide if you can.

 

Cancer

Eight of Swords – Self acceptance is key this week.  You might be feeling entrapped, but this time is meant for healing.  Sometimes the inertia of life has nothing to do with you as long as you don’t take it on as your story.  Let go of the collective thought patterns.  They are not part of your narrative.

 

Leo

Queen of Cups – Last week your brain was taxed.  The energy takes a 180 degree turn to your heart this week.  Compassion, calm and comfort are the keys to ease.  Find time daily to invite in the 3 Cs.  This is no time for martyrdom – take time off and have some fun.

 

Virgo

Ten of Wands – Another week spending energy in completing old projects and cleaning your desk/mind/spirit.  The challenge is being responsible for your obligations to those close to you but also to yourself.  This week is setting you up for new beginnings once your plate is cleared from the old.

 

Libra

Four of Swords – This energy shows up when you need to recuperate and relax.  You are being drained and are not aware of the source or how much it is taking out of you.  The best way of finding the leaks is by walking away from all your responsibilities for a small amount of time.  Then once you return the seepage will be more obvious and easier to fix.

 

Scorpio

*Temperance – The energy that surrounds you this week is excessive.  This overload unbalances you, so emotional outburst may be necessary to vent and re-calibrate.  However, be careful, impatience can trigger more negative and unworthy outpourings.  The key is purposely vent before the pressure makes you burst.

 

Sagittarius

*Sun – The sun will come out tomorrow and shine on you all week.  So that is great if you are ready to play in the sunlight.  However, there is a distinct possibility you may also want to hide in the shadows of pessimism.  The challenge is that more you try to be happy the less you accomplish it.  In other words, you are thinking to much.  Sag your free spirit is needing airing, a drive in the car with windows down, a picnic in the woods, or anything outdoorsy without any goal setting is required.  Try spotlighting your focus on things you want to do – not things you have to do.

 

Capricorn

*Justice – Last week organic change was asking you to not resist or fear transformation.  Letting things end so others can begin.  You are hopefully now moving with a more natural pace and to a more comfortable place.   Luckily, you get another week to work on this shift by focusing on cause and effect.  For each decision you are making imagine the possible or impossible outcomes.  Why focus on the impossible?  Because your mind wants to think of the what ifs and this is the week to let it.  Those out-there worst-case scenarios need airing.  Not to bring them in to being but to see the truth of their outlandishness.

 

Aquarius

*Chariot – Wow four weeks in a row with big energy.  It started with summoning you to take a bit of control over your destiny by showing up.  Then Temperance energy suggested creating your life like a refined meal that has many notes to balance in the creation of a delectable dining experience.  Then Justice had you looking for the grey areas to find a true sense of fairness and harmony.  Now self-determining change has arrived.  This energy is giving you control.  The good side is that you have more sway then you think.  The bad side is it is all in your hands.  This week if you want movement to happen you will need to take the reins.  If you look at all of May/June’s forecast now is the time to be flexible and delicate when applying energy but continue moving forward.

 

Pisces

Two of Wands – Discovery is the name of the game this week.  The challenge is that you are still in a place that is neither the past nor the future; however, you are not inert.  You are just taking a moment finding needed items and planning for the move forward.  The only challenge is while you are doing this be mindful of the precious moments this pause has given you.