Come visit the fabulous artistry of Kris Waldherr. Now I can hear you say, but Arwen, there’s nothing about Tarot in this blog. Ah, but there is! You have to look for it.
This is one of those blogs I love to visit for the lovely lovely artwork. I have little to no visual memory so each time I go, it’s all brand new to me. Ha! Kris shares bits about things she is working on as well as the actual art work. Her latest project (which is set to release in October) is “Doomed Queens”. Even if I didn’t adore the artist’s work, I’d have put this on my TBB (To Be Bought) list from the blurb alone.
(a snip from the blurb)”Illicit love, madness, betrayal–it isn’t always good to be the queen
Marie Antoinette, Anne Boleyn, and Mary, Queen of Scots. What did they have in common? For a while they were crowned in gold, cosseted in silk, and flattered by courtiers. But in the end, they spent long nights in dark prison towers and were marched to the scaffold where they surrendered their heads to the executioner. And they are hardly alone in their undignified demises. Throughout history, royal women have had a distressing way of meeting bad ends–dying of starvation, being burned at the stake, or expiring in childbirth while trying desperately to produce an heir. They always had to be on their toes and all too often even devious plotting, miraculous pregnancies, and selling out their sisters was not enough to keep them from forcible consignment to religious orders. From Cleopatra (suicide by asp), to Princess Caroline (suspiciously poisoned on her coronation day), there’s a gory downside to being blue-blooded when you lack a Y chromosome. Kris Waldherr’s elegant little book is a chronicle of the trials and tribulations of queens across the ages, a quirky, funny, utterly macabre tribute to the dark side of female empowerment.
What’s not to love about that? I’m happily awaiting this book for more than the art. I am a closet royal stalker. And this line just slays me.
“…there’s a gory downside to being blue-blooded when you lack a Y chromosome.
You can also learn about other projects Kris is involved in such as the Anubis Oracle. She did the artwork. Looks like a fascinating oracle. It’s described as “a journey into the shamanic mysteries of Egypt.”
Kris has recently opened up a studio. One thing that absolutely charmed me is that she hung her children’s art at eye level for the children. In one photo a group of children are in deep debate over one picture. The caption indicates that they are discussing whether or not the pegasus is a cow or a horse. It’s a rare artist who will hang beautiful things where small possibly grubby-fingered tots can put their hands on them. And I think it is a sign of the open-hearted person that Kris must be.
I fell in love with her artwork when I got a copy of the Goddess Tarot which features the most amazing visions of powerful women. One of my favorites is of Oya. Here you can feel the wind against your own skin. Perhaps even catch the scent of the forest carried by that breeze. Oya directs and points and guides here. The borders echo the storm that can be the goddess Oya. If you close your eyes, rain may glance off your face as the thunder echoes in the background.
This is not a gentle, namby-pamby Goddess Tarot. These are women who will be heard and who will change your life if you let them.
So come visit Kris’s blog and see what moves you.