art

New Art: Elder of the Scar Clan

by Joanna on November 30, 2011 · 17 comments

in Art, Wheel of the Year

Elder of the Scar Clan

She’s finished.  My portrait of the Crone of All Hallows, renamed “Elder of the Scar Clan.”

Actually I knew that was her name from the very beginning.  I just wasn’t ready to tell everyone until now.

This image of the Crone (the third face of the Goddess, the Old One, the Wise One) came to me as I meditated on the ancestors during the season of Hallowmas.  I ruminated on the women in my ancestral bloodlines who were wounded, and on my soul-sisters’ wounds, and on my own. We are all initiates of the Scar Clan.

Scar Clan is a term coined by Clarissa Pinkola Estes in Women Who Run with the Wolves, meaning “that timeless tribe of women of all colors, all nations, all languages, who down through the ages have lived through a great something, and yet who stood proud.”  (pg. 374)

“It is a good idea,” Estes writes, “for women to count their ages, not by years, but by battle scars. ‘How old are you?’ people sometimes ask me. ‘I am seventeen battle scars old,’ I say. . .

Make no mistake about it. If you are asked your nationality, ethnic origin, or blood line, smile enigmatically. Say, ‘Scar Clan.’ ”    (pg. 376)

Raven, detail

Spiderweb, detail

Moth, detail

You can see earlier posts on this piece as a work in progress, here and here and here.

Prints?  Oh my, yes!


Archival Limited Edition Print, signed & numbered by the artist

 11×14-inch (on 13×19 paper) Print $89.95

 8.5×11-inch Print $55.95

Price includes shipping. Each edition is limited to 250 prints. Print is hand-signed and numbered by the artist. The title of the card and ghosted copyright notice do not appear on the limited edition print. The prints are created in the artist’s studio, printed on fine art, archival textured papers. The manufacturer of the printer, papers and ink promise a longevity of 200+ years, “worthy of museum display.” (Fine art prints, as well as original art, should never be hung in full sunlight.) You will also receive a Certificate of Authenticity. Protective Packaging includes a backing board, with the print enclosed in a clear envelope.


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Kwan Yin and the Waters of Mercy

Photo taken by Joanna Powell Colbert, September 12, 2001.

Update: A couple of people asked to buy prints, so I set up a page for it.  I’ll donate the profits to Red Cross tsunami relief.

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A (Not-So-Secret) Sale

by Joanna on November 19, 2010 · 0 comments

in Art, Personal Growth, Tarot

Bonus Star PrintSssh! Don’t tell anyone but . . . there are now 382 Gaian Tarot Limited Edition decks left out of the original 1000, and (sssshhhhhh!) they’re on sale for the next couple of weeks, with a special bonus Star print to boot  . . .

All the deets are here!

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Ace of WaterToday, I asked: What do I need to know in order to be whole, healthy and happy this coming week?

And I pulled the Ace of Water.

Oh wow.  This card speaks to me on so many levels.

My first thought is of the salmon cycle, of descent and return.  A new journey begins. Like the moon cycle, this journey will wax and fully ripen, then wane until it is composted and dies, only to renew itself again.

This is a journey of the heart (since it is the suit of water).  A journey to seek my own holy grail.

A new journey of the heart that begins this week . . . I can relate this to two new journeys I am beginning, both of which are really new cycles of old journeys.  I’ve been around the block many times before, both in regard to my artwork and in regard to the principle of abundance, and am starting a new journey with each this week.

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Canoe1

Last week Craig and I took off for a canoe-camping trip in the North Cascades wilderness. It was probably the best vacation I can remember having in a long, long time. We whittled our needs and activities down to a basic few: pack up the gear, unpack the gear. Make meals, clean up meals. Paddle from one campsite to another. Enjoy Mama Gaia, enjoy each other. We were completely unplugged and out of cell phone range. We encountered only a handful of people on the remote north end of the lake. The weather couldn’t have been finer. And so we sweetly paddled our way into that mythical land called Slow Time.

In the Gaian Tarot Circle, one of the threads in the discussion forum is about the Gaian Tarot’s penchant for being literal in readings. (For example, someone who pulls the 4 of Water with its imagery of Chalice Well might “coincidentally” be planning a trip to Glastonbury, where the Well is located.) As I paddled for several hours each day at the lake last week, I would think about the Canoe (Chariot) card, and the meaning I assigned to it.  I wrote this in the Gaian Tarot companion book:

When you get this card in a reading . . .

ChariotThis is a time to stay focused on your path, and to exercise self-discipline as you work towards your goal. Set aside anything extraneous that would dis- tract you or keep you from completing your task. What is your goal? What do you want to accomplish? This may apply to your life in the everyday world — pursuing a course of study, a career goal, a fitness plan, a creative project. It may also apply to your inner life; perhaps you are in a recovery program or are healing from a trauma. Whatever it is, set your intention, take your first steps, and your guides and allies will be at your side to help you on your way. Be of great courage! No matter how hard it seems, you have what it takes to succeed.

However . . . what I discovered is that paddling a canoe is not always about being focused and self-disciplined and distraction-free. In fact, it can be a fine way to meander and flow and enjoy the journey rather than the destination. I found myself constantly distracted by colors, shapes and sounds as we paddled along: the intense underwater shades of jade and emerald; undulating, sinuous roots and branches; a raven’s croak and chickaree’s chatter. I was invariably distracted by Beauty.

Roots

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The Gardener: A Business Vision (or, “Your Ideal Day”)

August 19, 2010

In the Gaian Tarot Circle, we’ve been studying one Gaian Major Arcana card a month. This month’s card is the Gardener (aka the Empress).  Even though I created this card a few years back and know it intimately, I’m finding it has new and timely messages for me. A couple of nights ago, a group [...]

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La Luna Bella! ~ The Gaian Tarot Moon Card

August 11, 2010

 (The Moon card was the first card I created for the Gaian Tarot, back in 2001. After I finished it, I wrote this essay, which turned out to be too long for the Gaian Tarot companion book. But it's a pretty juicy article about moon lore, and I think you'll like it. It was first [...]

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Tarot Tuesday: Canoe Spread (For Those on a Journey)

August 10, 2010

 by Debra Strom (My friend and mermaid sister Debra Strom created this spread based on the Gaian Canoe card and shared it with the members of the Gaian Tarot Circle. She says: "I was so inspired by Carolyn Cushing's Five Green Allies Spread that I created a spread from Canoe card. I though, 'Hummm, that could be fun to [...]

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The Five Green Allies Spread (from the Teacher card)

July 1, 2010

What We Might Learn from Plants and the Five Green Allies Spread  by guest Carolyn Cushing First published in Carolyn's blog, Art of Change Tarot, 5/12/10. Used with permission. (Joanna's note: I love Carolyn's work and was particularly taken with the spread she created based on the herbal allies in the Gaian Teacher (Hierophant) card. So I wanted to [...]

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Gaian Tarot on Beyond Worlds / Blog Talk Radio

June 28, 2010

It was a lot of fun to be on Donnaleigh's show last night!  If you missed it, you can listen to the archived link show here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/beyondworlds/2010/06/27/the-gaian-tarots-joanna-powell-colbert There's also a player in the left column of this blog. It still works even if it's cut off a bit.  Donnaleigh also shared a post on her [...]

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