Fisher King Loteria

"The Fish" Loteria Card

The Fish

There is no question that the Fisher King is a powerful figure in most European history.  The influence of the king in disguise is also present in contemporary images and philosophy.  For this reason, the card dedicated to the Fisher King is not the obvious value in the suit (King), but instead appears in the Pope's Loteria Deck as a Nine.  This is not by chance.  The card is the most important and powerful card in the suit.  The flavor of the text in the descriptions makes this clear.

"The Palm" Loteria Card

The Palm

Most movies and cartoons which feature palm trees usually show the Caribbean variety which is smooth and banded with thin ridges up the length of the trunk.  For those of use who have decided to make their homes in Southern California, we're award that palm trees have different categories.
The most attractive to my mind is the shorter and more interestingly textured variety which can produce dates.  The trunk is stippled with stubby thick branches which are trimmed.  If the tree is left unattended after trumming, these end pieces can grow out and make the tree look rough and hairy.  It might be tempting to climb one of these things just to have the ability to say the feat has been accomplished.

Gotta Love Loteria Horizons

"The Flowerpot" Loteria Card

 The Flowerpot

At first it might look like the focus of this card is on the explosive growth which is rising in a column from this flowerpot.  However the research that I've done for this card makes it clear that the flowerpot is the subject being highlighted.  On one hand the flowerpot is the enclave where the vines are given a place to thrive.  How this relates to a personal reading when this card appears in fortune telling is dependant on how it appears with the surrounding cards.

This isn't unusual.  Most loteria fortune telling readings involve drawing three cards and having them read as a story from the fortune teller.  One card does have meaning for the subject, but it is the combination of the three cards together which provide the context of the images and produce the most detailed insight.

The vines don't show any leaves or flowers sprouting from them, but it is my understanding that this is just because of the way the image was imagined by the monks who designed the deck.  I don't believe they had a particular plant in mind, but just wanted to show the results of a nurturing environment.

"The Rose" Loteria Card

"The Rose"

It is surprising to look at the stack of canvas pieces that I assembled for this project and realize that there are only five more left before the deck is complete and I can move on to publishing.  Wow!  There were some cards which had me stymied for weeks, but others which almost lept from the brush to the canvas.

Scorpion and the Frog

"The Scorpion" Loteria Card

"The Scorpion"
The scorpion on this card is taken from the lesson of the scorpion and the frog crossing the river together.  Although in that fable the focus tends to be on the scorpion, both characters are involved and deserve scrutiny.  There is much to be gained by examining both types of identities and determining where the fault for the catastrophe lies, if anywhere or on anyone.

Paint Corona, Drink Corona

"The Crown" Loteria Card

"The Crown"
I think that I'll go back to the books and find the quote about a crown from "The King in Yellow".  The story itself is fantastic and worth re-reading multiple times.  In that story there is a special crown which is described in some detail, and when I look at this painting I can't help but think of the parallels between the two.

Can't See the Forest for the Loteria

"The Pine" Loteria Card

"The Pine"
I have a hit and miss relationship with pine trees.  That may sound like an odd thing to say, but it's true.  Trees are great, everyone will attest to that.  They help the planet, provide air for us to breathe and in general are selfless givers of life.  But think about the location for a moment.  Pine trees are deceptive.  They are the liars of the forest.  From a distance they look green and lush, like the ground in teeming with life.  But all the pine forests that I've hiked through, and suddenly there have been many, are in the desert.  They are hot and not refreshing to walk through.  The ground is hard, the air hot and dusty and there is scant food or game to be found.  Forests in Washington are full of berries, birds and critters.  In pine forests you're lucky if you see a squirrel and even then it's a rangy one which has seen better days.
They do smell nice.  Count one for pine trees.
But if given the choice, I'd go for other kinds of forests.  As a side note I had a professor who did his thesis paper on squirrels and pine trees.  The hypothesis he had was that squirrels were able to tell sick trees from healthy ones.  After watching squirrels and pine trees for months, it turned out that squirrels are pretty dumb little guys.  They like sick trees as well as healthy ones.  I suppose to be generous you could say that squirrels abound with love unconditionally.  But still, to a squirrel, a tree is a tree.

The Cactus Eclipse

"The Cactus" Loteria Card

"The Cactus"

  This painting was created for the "Baraja del Papa", or The Pope's Deck" of loteria cards.

  Loteria is a game popular in the SouthWest and Mexico.  It consists of a deck of 54 cards emblazoned with images both mundane and fanstastic.

  This deck is based on the original deck comissioned by Fr's Ludigo and Anthony and blessed by Pope Pius VI in 1785 for use in the New World.  Of the decks created for use by the missionaries for divination, only four complete decks are known to have survived.

  The images I am painting are based on journal notations made by the Fathers as they were commissioning the creation of the "Baraja del Papa".  The entire series of cards is scheduled to be finished in September with a print run starting immediately on completion.  This page will be updated with information on how you can order your deck of cards once they become available.

Cave Paintings and Loteria

"The Deer" Loteria Card

"The Deer"
The deer for this image is most likely taken from reports of cave paintings which would have been available to the two monks as well as Pope Pius IV himself.  This would have been at odds with most orthodoxy at the time.  It isn't clear whether the monks or the Pope were aware of the age of the paintings, but it would have been likely they were aware of speculation that they predated biblical history.  In either event, the images for fertility and sexuality would have been popular in other areas of rural spiritual beliefs.  This card would have found no home in Western practices, but would point to the potent New World forces which missionaries were encountering abroad.

The Sun Never Sets on the Loteria Empire

"The Sun" Loteria Card

"The Sun"
This loteria card shows an arctic sun shining on an ice cliff.  Encased in the walls of the ice a shadowy figure can be seen.  The colors of the sky indicate that while the sun is shining, it is bitterly cold and the figure is in no danger of being freed from the icy prison.
One of the things I noticed while studying icebergs for this image was how stark the shadows were.  Inky shadows cling to every rock and crevasse giving even the most mundane vista an otherworldly view.

For Whom the Bell Tolls Loteria

"The Bell" Loteria Card

"The Bell"
This painting really pushed the boundaries of what I can do with acrylics.  I'm sure there are plenty of painters out there who can make the colors whirl and dance to their brushes like a conductor before a colorful symphony orchestra.  But that's a bit beyond my abilities for now.
The description of this card made it clear that a bronze bell (with verdigris) is shown before rolling storm clouds which are pierced by shafts of sunlight.  Not an easy feat to be sure.  Storm clouds are pretty straight forward to make and actually are one of my favorite things to paint.  But these needed to be almost purple in color.  The shafts of sunlight needed to glow before a dark background which needed some preparation before I was able to come up with an effect which I'm satisified with.
But all in all, the devil was needed to be painted to look like the 'red pajama wearing" imp from countless Sunday school lectures.  It works... but if I were going to come up with my own design (and not a design based on Franciscan monks of a few hundred years ago), I'd concentrate more on bandy muscled demons.

Hop, Skip and Jump to Loteria

"The Frog" Loteria Card

"The Frog"

When I was looking through the original descriptions of the "La Rana" cards based on the transcripts from the two monks I've been studying, a passage caught my eye.  The monks made it clear that the frog is swimming in water.  They added as a way of clarification that the frog is not actually submerged in water, but is instead skimming along the surface at a leisurely pace.  This description gives me much to go on when putting the layout of the card into place.  "Along the surface" tells me right away that highlights and reflected colors are going to be figuring into the work in a great amount before I'm done.

But in this case, the paint was working against me.  When acrylics are properly applied in semi-transparent layers, they give the light a scattering effect which makes figures more lifelike and details the appearance of glowing.  Water should be a natural for this effect.  But the canvas that I was working with was much rougher than most and had more "tooth" than I expected.  Long story short, there is about 100 layers of paint on this painting.  But that is some water that you can dive right into!

Spilled Milk Loteria

"The Water Pitcher" Loteria Card

"The Water Pitcher"

This is a very fitting card for me to have finished painting today because yet another heat wave is rolling through the High Desert and making life difficult and uncomfortable for everyone around here.  It reached 109 today and as luck would have it, I needed to make a trip to the DMV.  When I got there the line of people stretched out into the parking lot.  The cause was revealed to be a statewide computer system going down.  I think it was just because I'd failed to do my morning loteria divination readings.

Loteria Hat Trick!

"The Cactus" Loteria Card

 "The Cactus"

I'm not sure what stars were arranged in which patterns, but for some reason I actually found some time today to do some painting and I managed to knock out three difficult cards for the upcoming loteria deck.  Now there are those who will say that any art project has it's equal share of ups and downs. To these people, there aren't any 'hard' projects or 'fun' projects, just projects that have their difficulties and fun in different areas.
I don't believe it.  These last three cards were hard.  In fact, I'm intentionally skipping over "The Apache" and "The Musician" because I don't feel like putting my face through canvas in frustration.  But "The Cactus" came together in a way that I'm very pleased with and I don't think that I could have done anything to improve it.  It's perfect exactly how it is.
Funny, when I look at this painting I can't help but think that it's some sort of Green Man for the High Desert.  We don't really go for ivys and vines in Victorville.  If there were a reason that would inspire us to dance around a symbol of growth and fertility, it would have thorns like this green guy.  It isn't that we don't like growing and flourishing fauna.  But when you live in a place that regularly goes over 110 degrees and only has about 20 percent humidity, you take what you get.

"The Soldier" Loteria Card

"The Soldier"

I've been going around town posting fliers for the upcoming "Hot August Nights" and I am seeing a measure of support for this event.  The event will be at the church and will host a variety of local artists and entertainers.  I'm hoping that artists will be able to not only show and sell their creations, but use the opportunity to network and meet others with similar interests.  We have painters, sculptures and ceramic oriented artists around here.  Now is there time to shine!

I'll be setting up the sound equipment, but for the life of me I just can't make myself bring my guitar to this event.  I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem, but my fingers are soft and I'm out of practice with the guitar.  Not good!  The music is there, but finding an evening free to practice on a regular basis is harder than I'd have thought. Because I'm really trying to improve my guitar playing, I picked up a copy of the X360 "Rocksmith" which should give me the incentive to practice more.  I've checked it out quickly and it seems to be in working order.  I was even able to hook up my handwired chrome guitar tri-cone resonator to the machine, and it recognized it!  That shouldn't be possible, but I can't argue with success.  It plugs in and can tell when the guitar is in tune.  That's more than I can do most of the time!

"The Ladle" Loteria Card

"The Ladle"

Thank you Kirstie for all your wonderful support and guidance on this loteria project.  I'd be lost without you!

"The World" Loteria Card

"The World"
I really had to do some stretching of the original work to make this fit on the card in a pleasing manner, but when all is said and done it looks fantastic.  This is the way the card should look!  I tried not to overdo the living creatures appearing in this landscape work because the focus of the card is on the World (with a capital "W") and not the creatures that inhabit it.  What that means from a practical viewpoint is that all the breathing critters we have around us are getting the short shrift.  But I didn't invent the cards, I'm just following the deck designs as they are outlined.

I really should be posting these on the comprehensive loteria site first.  If I put them up here, I have to come back and edit the post to add the link. Ah well, too late now.  I'll be back with a link.

UPDATE:  Do your loteria readings with accuracy and style.

Guiding Star to Loteria

"The Star" Loteria Card

"The Star"

One of the best things I could have done when starting this project was to make a simple and foolproof method by which I could change the card's suits if necessary.  The icon in the upper left corner of the card is painted, as is the symbols for each suit.  The only thing that isn't paint is the number of the card.
However, when I started this project I treated the corner graphic and suits like a computer generated graphic.  The means that by choosing which layers of the Photoshop image to make visible, I can give any value to the card I want.  It's simple and elegant and a dang lifesaver by this point.
Somewhere along the way I knew that the card value for "The Spider" had been made the six of spades.  It should have been the six of hearts.  I've corrected that error so even though the image you see on this blog still lists the card as being a member of the Spades group, the printed and official deck will have it correctly appearing as a Heart.

Update:  Further explanations of the symbolism in this card has now been posted on the loteria divination site.

Time Flies with Loteria

"The Arrows" Loteria Card

The Arrows

I'm noticing a trend with my blog posts where I mention the cool things that are hidden by the banner on the template.  I'm going to stop doing that.  For one thing, the main image should be the focus of the card and that is something that should NEVER be covered.  But secondly, its way too easy to be overly critical of my own work.  I should just lean back and be happy with a job well done.

But indulge me for just a moment here.  Beneath the banner on this loteria card are four leaves that range from spring green to autumn gold.  It illustrates the passage of time just as effectively as the face of the clock.  However I refuse to end this post with a self criticism of the painting.  So how about that moon, eh?  It totally rocks!

Update: The Arrows are pointing to fortune telling now on the main loteria site.

Within Each Heart, Beats a Drum

The Drum Loteria Card

The Drum

This is the first time that the template that I established at the start of this project has come around to bite me in the hindquarters.  Considering that I'm a hair over the halfway mark, I really should be counting myself lucky.  I really thought that if there were going to be major design issues they'd have shown themselves before now.
The scroll looks fantastic, but is hiding the fact this the drum for "El Tambor" is enclosed in a ribcage and has blood vessels snaking out and entwining themselves in the structure of the drum.  This is a card that came out much better than I thought possible, but most of the nice detail and great composition is hidden and there's not too much I can do about it.  I'll post a template-free picture of this painting later.

Update:  Until the template-free image is posted, I've updated the loteria site to include this fortune telling card.

The Parrot of the Loteria Deck

"The Parrot" Loteria Card

"The Parrot"

There is no doubt that this is one colorful and garish bird, but good grief it's hard to paint!  I've got countless tubes of color in my paint box, but that doesn't mean it was easy to do justice to this guy.  Just look at him!  I had no idea the different shades of blue on your standard parrot.  Some are flat, others iridescent, and all of them are combined into ways that made my head spin.
But all in all, I think I got it about right.
This was the final card that I needed to complete for the Diamond suit.  I'd made The Rooster card months ago and had forgotten that it had a value of the King of Diamonds.  So suddenly I realized that one more suit on the loteria deck is now complete.  Half way there!

Update: For details on what this card means for fortune telling, I've updated the main site.

The Heart of the Loteria Deck

"The Heart" Loteria Card

The Heart Loteria Card

I'm going to have to repost this painting without the banner on the front to make the subject more clear.  This is a metal heart cast from copper and arranged to serve as an aeolipile.  The vessel is filled with water and suspended on an axle over a fire.  When the water inside turns to steam it escapes through two tubes bent at 90 degree angles.  This causes the whole 'heart' to rotate.
Due to the placement of the banner on this image, this isn't immediately clear.  The steam escaping out of the artery is visible but the lower tube is hidden.
Although the numerical value of the card is exactly like what should appear in the Pope's Deck, I am using some license as far as determining what the suit value of the card should be.  In this case, the card should be either the king or queen of diamonds.  But c'mon, it's a Heart!  So I bumped it's value to the Ace.
What this means is that I'm not quite done with the diamond suit.  I'd planned to be finished today, but that's not going to happen.  It will happen soon, but not just yet!

Update:  For tarot readings that include this loteria card, more information is available on the main site.

Watermelon Loteria, the Card of Summer

"The Watermelon" Loteria Card

The Watermelon

This loteria card features a design carved into the rind of a summer watermelon.  This actually isn't a new thing at all limited just to buffet tables on cruises.  Although most people in North America are familiar with the classic Jack-o-lantern face carved into pumpkins, the watermelon has a rind which is more suited to the purpose.
Designs like this one have many meanings for farmers and others who depend on crops and a full harvest for their livelihood.

I'm including a more detailed analysis of the meaning of this card on the main Loteria site.  Updates coming shortly!

It really was cruel to paint something so refreshing during a heatwave that is ravaging the High Desert.  I think my Id was longing for something to escape the 110 degree temperatures!

Update:  Loteria divination takes this card seriously, as is explained on the fortune telling site.

What is Behind Loteria?

Back of Loteria Card

This tessellation pattern was created for the back of the Loteria cards.  I wanted to do something that would capture the intricate nature of an M.C. Escher print.  Actually, when designing the cards I was originally thinking of having lots more Escher-like patterns, but there is a catch that wasn't obvious at first.  Patterns that repeat themselves make for great card backs, but hard to format as acard FRONT!  For the face cards, a single, large image is preferable.
But the back of the cards are a different story.
This figure in this painting was based off of Shimbo of Darktree Tower, the avatar of Francis Sandow.  The painting is different only in the fact that it doesn't include the greenish cast to the skin which is a staple of temple images of Shimbo.