It’s been a long, creative journey that all started in January 2023 when I was also looking for guidance. I would sit in my living room chair during the Rocky Mountain winter and illustrate 1-4 tarot cards in one evening. Slowly, a theme started to emerge and I began to think bigger – what if I professionally printed this deck to share with others?

Why I Started Drawing Tarot Cards

My first tarot deck was EARTH CHILD by Alyson Davies. I loved the art in her tarot deck and I found that the vibes within the deck were gentle and not spooky. This approach opened my mind to the possibilities of tarot decks for conversations with friends and family AND the knowledge shared by tarot deck creators.

I slowly worked away at drawing the cards and thinking deeply about the message intended by the cards. Coincidentally, I bought “A Little Bit of Tarot” by Cassandra Eason out of curiosity when I was on a trip to New York City (from the famous Books Are Magic bookstore). I also studied the structure of the tarot deck with the book “The Creative Tarot” by Jessa Crispin, who approached the card structure with the structure of storytelling. 

I could see that the tarot deck can be a tool to help us connect with ourselves and each other. It doesn’t have to be serious or spooky – but it can be light-hearted and inspire deep conversations about the mysteries of life.

What’s the point of tarot cards? 

The point of my tarot deck is to inspire connection and bring focus to the knowledge that surrounds us, especially in nature. After a tarot reading, I think we are a little more observant of our surroundings and what is happening in our lives, both big and small. That surely can’t be a bad thing.

The Four Suits

When I looked at the traditional four suits, I decided to shake it up a little bit with my interpretation. Out came these four suits inspired by the art forms of writing, pottery, as well as nature. You will notice a lot of Canmore and Western Canadian animals and landscapes nestled into this deck.

Suit of Wands (Willows): The suit of creativity and inspiration. My favourite suit as I believe in the power of creativity for our individual and collective wellbeing. Willows represent seasonal change – air, bright, new, soft. Being present to what is happening around us. Feeling reinvigorated and inspired by the world!

Suit of Cups (Pottery): Cups is a suit about love and connecting with others. Pottery is that way too. A lot of personality, love, and consideration goes into each piece made by a potter. Each piece is also created to be enjoyed by another person over and over again. Pots tend to outlast the potter, just like love.

Suit of Swords (Pens): In the modern era, I believe that the pen can be a sword. The pen and our intellect can help us work towards a better world. It’s important to say what we mean and do what we say. Acting with intention and integrity makes for a peaceful life.

Suit of Tentacles (Pentacles): The suit of finances and responsibilities. I choose to symbolize Pentacles with Tentacles since responsibilities seem to wrap around us. Responsibilities may feel restrictive but at their best, they can also hold us and protect us to live healthy and safe lives in relation to others.

The Major Arcana

I started drawing the Major Arcana after the four suits. At this point, I would read the title of the card I had to draw, look it up in Eason’s book, and then I would sit until an image came to my mind. There are animals, people, concepts, plants, and landscapes. I fully acknowledge that these images are biased toward my own life experiences and cultural upbringing. But, I hope that perspective makes it fun. 

The Kickstarter

If you are thinking about trying out tarot for yourself (or as a really fun dinner party activity!) – try PLAYFUL BEINGS. It’s light-hearted and a super fun way to have some different conversations with the peeps in your life.

I had a wonderful opportunity in January to take an Intaglio Printmaking course at artsPlace in Canmore, AB with artist Alison Brown. I had never heard of intaglio printmaking but I fell in love with it from the first class. This technique seemed to unlock a skill in my hands I didn’t know I had… realistic nature!

What is Intaglio Printmaking?

If you would like to know more about the technique of Intaglio printmaking, the Britannica has a great and short overview.

How to Start Intaglio Printmaking

First, if you have the opportunity to take a local class – do it! This was so relaxing and fun. I met so many nice people from my community and it was fantastic to see what amazing art they created.

What I really loved about this process is that there is a lot of opportunity to make art out of recyclable materials that one could easily find around the house.

All you need for materials is:

• Intaglio Ink
• Old cardboard
• Paper
• Plastic sheets (1mm thick) for etching
• A compass for carving (or other sharp scratchy tool)
• Newspaper
• Water
• A printmaking roller press

Here’s a handy video that I watched before my class and I found it very helpful!

This print was inspired by a feature in National Geographic on the endangered monarchs.

Tips for Intaglio

• Don’t be afraid to apply ink in a “painterly fashion” I was surprised how much depth this added to my fairly simple etchings.
• Look for inspiration in magazines and books.
• Go out of your comfort zone – your hands my surprise you!
• Don’t be afraid to trace – your style will still come through in your etching as well as your ink application.
• Don’t use too much ink.
• and, don’t go too hard on the cleaning of your etched plate!

Most of these prints were inspired by the January 2024 issue of National Geographic magazine.

If you are a nature photographer and interested in collaborating with me – shoot me an email. I would love to do more of this type of work!

They were a challenging set as I cut each on its own linocut plate but with three colours, it is challenging not to have the colours mix. Each print is time-consuming and a little fiddly but also gifts me with a moment to listen to podcasts and enjoy the printmaking process.

These are available as a 4 part card set or individually as art prints in my Etsy shop.

The next day was clear skies for the first time in weeks. We did some fantastic day hikes from the campground. We fished. I painted. And a porcupine foraged our camp in the middle of the night and ate a bit of Billy’s hiking boots. What is your most memorable animal encounter while hiking?

In my paintings this trip, I experimented with a more traditional style and the abstract mountain style that I’ve been playing with for a year or so. Also, for ease of travel and weight, I only brought a small pad of postcard-size watercolour paper, my BEAM paints, and two waterbrushes. This is becoming my go-to hiking set.

Here’s a pic I snapped after I laid the majority of this painting. I later went back in with some watercolour pencils to add some texture. I especially like to to do that for the mountain rocks and shale and to add some depth to water.

Nature gave us a show with some amazing sunsets, which felt absolutely heavenly after weeks of forest fire smoke this past July. A nice reminder that we have to get outdoors and soak it all in.

I love the quiet mystery of a snowy winter night. And I love the crisp, sparkling light of a snowy winter day.

I’m most happy hiking when I’m beside a river or a stream.

Back in October 2019, we had the opportunity to travel Mexico with two dear friends. Our one friend was born in Mexico and his family hails from Guanajuato. When we arrived at the airport, we were picked up by his Aunt and Uncle and immediately swept up into family life of dinners, drinks, visits, and celebrating. It was a truly special trip that we will never forget and always cherish.

Now, that we have been at home for nine months during the COVID pandemic, I’m reflecting much more on our past trips and taking this opportunity to think more deeply about what I learned. Mexico blew the doors off my house. I had taken a couple of university Latin American history classes but I found out that those classes were just a primer to the complex, nuanced, exciting world of Mexican history – and then there’s the history of great ancient cultures of the Aztecs and the Mayan.

In fact, I’m intimidated just thinking about how I am going to write about everything I’m curious about in Mexico. Hopefully the loose ends, all the fascinating parts of Mexican culture I learned, will weave into some sort of tapestry and give a sense of why I fell in love with Mexico.

I learned on a historical walking tour that gardens in Mexico were influenced by a great Japanese imperial gardener, Tatsugoro Matsumoto who was invited to design gardens in Mexico City after his work in Peru in the late 1800s. He later imported the famous Jacaranda tree from Brazil in 1920 when designing gardens for President Obregón. Flash forward to the present and the Jacaranda tree is an important feature of neighbourhoods, especially those in Mexico City.

I noticed that trees were meticulously shaped and sculpted, their healthy green leaves would gently wiggle in the breeze. Gentle perfumes of florals and citrus lingered in the air. The greenery throughout downtown Mexico City gave me a sense of calm in the huge city that I was previously intimidated by.

I could wander the parks and gardens of León, Guanajuato, Querétero, and Mexico City all day long. Sketch, paint, people watch, and picnic with loved ones. And the fountains! Oh, the fountains…

There were also the rugged parts of Mexican landscape, that looked like the desert to me. The wide, open spaces between Guanajuato and Querétero reminded me of our big skies in rural Alberta; the quiet that one feels when its just you, the sky, and a flat field for as far as they eye can see.

Long stretches of golden brown were dotted with giant cactus, like the traditional ones that look like they have arms, and the nopales, the” prickly pear,” which we had as excellent salad at a family dinner. There is certainly no shortage of inspiring landscape for daydreaming in Mexico.

It was quite fun to let go of accuracy and just let my paintbrush move. I’m also using my new favourite watercolour paints by BEAM Paints. Anong Migwans Beam makes beautiful, natural paints and you are supporting an Indigenous female entrepreneur.

I’m considering creating a postcard pack of this set :) Let me know if that is something you would be into.

Hilma Af Klint (1862-1944) was a Swedish artist who explored the intersection of nature, spirituality, and emotions in abstraction. I recently read Hilma Af Klint: Notes and Methods, a curated book of her sketchbooks and notebooks edited by Christine Burgin, and have been inspired by Af Klint ever since.

This comparisons are based on her sketchbook on Flowers, Mosses, and Lichens. She would look at the plants and try to capture their emotional life in an abstract way, that she has codified over the years.

Here I have placed them side by side. On the left, is my illustration of the plant I discovered when I looked up the scientific name that Klint has noted in her abstraction, of which I have reproduced on the right.

If you would like to learn more about Hilma Af Klint, I highly recommend the Great Women Artists podcast with Katy Hessel.

Episode 41 – Tracey Bashkoff on Hilma af Klint

I saw a short online course from Shari Blaukopf, an artist from Montreal, and it was fantastic! Three lessons – learned the tricks of the trade and improved quite a bit.

Over the last six months, I’ve noticed a growing passion for nature illustrations. It would be my dream to be invited to an scientific expedition to capture the experience in drawings. So this is step 1 in trying to achieve that dream.