Here I am with a foolish young heart (and thin figure!). This is 1995 while working on my first tarot deck: the Shapeshifter Tarot

This is the painting that determined my artistic path. The Sorceress was the sample I painted before landing my first tarot contract with Llewellyn Publications.

Here's a Shapeshifter portrait I did for 60's rock icon, Donovan. I flew to San Francisco and presented the framed painting to him in person at a 1997 Whole Life Expo (my apologies for the poor photo quality--I know I have more somewhere).

Here I am in 1998 at an Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale graduation. At the time I was working on Celtic Dragon Tarot, I was also earning a degree in Computer Animation (very new at the time). I face-mapped the Shapeshifter Tarot images on 3D runes and had them spin around in space. No one ever saw anything like that before and it earned me the top prize in my graduating class (and a subsequent job as a conceptual designer and later, college teacher).

Here's my studio. On the wall is a framed Celtic Dragon Tarot press sheet. As my biggest seller, it holds a place of honor in my workspace.

After Celtic Dragon Tarot, my book Celestial Goddesses was published. I met fabulous people along the way, including my dear friend Pam (professional singer/art educator extraordinaire). This was taken during the Spring of 2002.

I also met my future husband at the one and only Celestial Goddesses book signing. It was destiny!

During the past 15 years, I've nurtured an extraordinary friendship with the brilliant and soulful Kris Waldherr.

While I was earning my Masters Degree in Interdisplinary Studies, Animals Divine Tarot was published. It earned a COVR award the following year (2006).

After Animals Divine Tarot, there was Fantastical Creatures Tarot published by US Games. Here I am at a 2007 INATS East signing/reading. I was busy!

While working on tarot decks and books, I had kids! Here I am with my artistic son Connor in 2009.

Here's Kyra in the studio in (early 2009?). My kids love to draw too!

Here's a bookcover-in-progress I did last year.

I also had a 10 year stint as a Collectible Card Game artist, but after over 100 images I retired from the industry.

I also studied martial arts and earned my Black Belt in TKD as a means of getting healthy and feeling more balanced while in the studio. It's easy to neglect oneself when one is so consumed by one's artistic passions! (2008)

I loved writing this book!

Here's a framed press sheet of The Fairy Tale Tarot that hung at a local gallery in 2009.

Here I am at work in the studio. I use the TP for painting--just in case you were confused. (2010)

Here's what I'm working on now...

and here's what I'll be working on next.

It has been a wonderful journey so far. I can honestly say that I feel a deep sense of gratitude for my life. Yes, I did make things happen, but I also feel I’m a blessed person to be able to live my passion and know who I am. Who knows what will be? But for now, I’m perfectly content with the here and now. But sometimes it’s good to reflect back and take pause. I don’t take anything for granted!

~ Lisa

Llewellyn is generously giving away 9 uncut press sheets suitable for framing. Having personally signed these beauties, I can attest to the outstanding reproductive quality of these unique “galleries” showcasing The Fairy Tale Tarot artwork. I am happily the owner of one of these sheets and recently had it framed to hang in my home. What can I say? They’re really cool and collectible!

Here’s a link to the contest. Good luck everyone!
~Lisa

Win Your Own Little Piece of Happily Ever After

After weeks of torturous waiting, my press sheets finally arrived! They came in a huge elongated triangular box and required a signature for delivery. This was precious cargo and something that had me floating to the dining room table as Otis Redding played soulfully in the background. I felt so much pent up excitement that I was like a 5 year old hyperventilating in front of a huge birthday present! And the kids were right by my side, sharing in the joy of Mommy’s accomplishment.

For those of you who do not know what press sheets are, they are large sheets of paper that are fed into a printing press. The outcome is a gallery of all the work constituting the product. During this press run, two sheets were required to print all of my paintings, though sheet two (below) repeated images. The design for the back of the cards appears on the flipside of the sheets, just as they will appear on the cards. These will be cut up and packaged into the tarot kits.

Of course, there is always that nagging feeling that maybe the press sheets will not live up to expectations, but under the watchful eye of Llewellyn’s supreme art director Lynne Menturweck (and she can point out a problem clear to Alaska), the press sheets came out GORGEOUS!

Here’s my daughter Kyra holding up one of the original fairy tale watercolor paintings in front of a backdrop of her and Connor’s artwork. The painting dimensions are 70mm x120mm or 7”x12”. They are 300% from trim before they are scanned and shrunk down to standard card size. Working large enables me to paint more freely and to capture lots of luscious detail. The downside to working bigger is that I never know how much the reduction of the painting may compromise the final outcome of printed image. Fortunately, despite the fact that I paint with a delicate brush and subtle hues most of my art has translated remarkably well with the Fairy Tale Tarot probably being the sharpest, most perfected production of all my decks. They really shine on the lovely, sturdy card stock. And they are almost exact replicas of the originals — like miniature versions of the paintings.

Everyone seemed unanimous in the decision to make the cards borderless. This is partially the result of fans and colleagues expressing their preference to see the images full bleed rather than having to compete with a potentially distracting framing device. The card names were strategically placed on hand drawn scrolls at the bottom of the images lending to a storybook feel. I am elated with the results–all came together in a nice bundle of vividity–To think, the sum of five years work on two sheets!

I have pretty much always framed the press sheets (for good luck!) and this time is no exception. But where to hang it? That’s the big question. My children are quickly covering the walls of our house with their own drawings. They very much intend to be part of this creative environment and don’t hold Mommy’s work with any particular reverence. It is understood that we are all artists just trying to express ourselves and now they too have caught the fairy tale bug.