Journey with the Ancient Tarots

It came as a big surprise that me that my dear friend Madame Luna has recently introduced herself to modern digital life by openning a blog!

http://madame-luna.blogspot.com/

Compared to the big technogical revolution in Madame Luna's life, the second surprise is more for my personal delight. During our more frequent correspondance these days, I discovered that Luna was born on the 6th of September, 1939, while my own birth is June 9, 1993.

I couldn't explain how this coincidance adds to the spiritual connection we already have via a mutual passion for art and occult culture. Not to mention that Madame Luna has the same given name as the girl in Fifty Shades of Grey: Anastazja.

As my exhibition date draws near, I started to ponder upon the promise I made to Luna: to design a set of Tarot cards for her in exchange of her drawings of my future.

My research started with the medieval artist Gringonneur, who was said to have been commissioned by the King Charles VI of France to design a set of Tarot cards in the 14th century. Most of his elaborate designs were lost over the centuries, yet some survived and are still preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

His design is the epitome of occult art in the Middle Ages, from which I draw quite a lot inspirations for my own art. His characters that go beyond the boundering box on each card are also similar to my fondness of inconsistant pictorial layers.

I also looked at some examples of Tarot cards that feature a stained glass design. The brilliant colors used and the typical "cloissonnism" can be a nice contrast to my general painting style, which is dominated by smooth lines (or lack of contours) and earthy colors. However, I'm afraid such fragmented presentation would compromise the reading of the images. After all, I still hope my audience would concentrate on the characters and the stories I illustrate in the Tarot cards, not just the colors.

My current decision is to use the Tarot cards as our exhibition post cards. The illustration measures 3 x 5 in., with a medieval illumination border, the actual card will be the same size as a traditional postcard: 4 x 6 in.

One of my biggiest obstacles now is the design of the back of the card. Even though in the postcard version, the back will be used primarily for information, the real cards displayed in the exhibition should have a back design which probably represent me and Madame Luna, as the cards are our mutual works of art and research.