I have studied the pictures of the Major Arcana in the Tarot cards off and on for more than forty years, every once in a while making a group of paintings or prints, one or more for each Tarot picture. Beginning late December 1994 and running on and off until June of 1995, I decided to make another Tarot series, not however representing the images in an identifiable way, but entering instead the feeling of the image as I had come to experience it at that time, and out of that feeling (as a composer makes a melody of his feeling from a poem) painting until an image of my feeling appeared in the paint upon the paper.

Most of the 1995 Tarot series were exhibited at the Gallery of the Shanghai College of Fine Arts of Shanghai University in October, 1995, and in the Arts and Consciousness Gallery of John F. Kennedy University in Berkeley in June of 1997. There follow below images of many of the paintings in the show, along with the brief catalog text I wrote in order to help the Chinese audience begin to understand the meanings of the work

Scroll down for the paintings, click the blue-border images for a larger view.

from the Minor Arcana

The Ace of Clubs December 28, 1994 The club or staff is a good sized chunk of tree branch, just right to hit you over the head to get your attention and bring you to life.

The Ace of Coins March 9, 1995 The coin is the mark of market value representing every value humans have except humanity and love.

from the Major Arcana