The Lady with Eyes in her... ahem...

"The Bonnet" Loteria Card

"The Bonnet"

"Eisnerbrecht" is actually the mistranslated term for this image.  This card is based on the practice of creating a gap in a circuit for protection against spiritual forces.  This would be similar to providing a ground in an electrical circuit, although in this practice the subject is deliberately creating a defense against supernatural beings.

"Eisnerbrecht: A wooden stake with a silver core, bound with three iron bands."

This loteria card for "The Bonnet" shows a wooden manikin head which has been pierced repeatedly with metal nails for good luck.

The Barrel : Eclipse Gallery

"The Barrel" Loteria Card

"The Barrel"


Card #9 for "The Pope's Deck" or "Baraja del Papa"

This painting is one of a series of 58 images which will be published as a special loteria deck upon completion.  Loteria is game popular in Mexico and the Southwest, similar to bingo.  Each card of the deck has an image of a common scene or basic household item.  For this reason, the images that appear in a deck of loteria cards are instantly recognizable to the players.

This deck will have the addition of four suits and numbering markers in the upper right corners which will allow them to be used for most American card games.

The images appearing in this deck are based on descriptions of the only deck of loteria cards blessed by the Catholic Church.  In 1785, Pope Pius IV consecrated a specifically commissioned deck of cards for missionary work in the New World.  Of those decks, only four are assumed to still be in existence, and none have been made available for viewing.  However, the documents which organized and defined the images which would later be created for this project are part of the public domain and it is from this source that I am attempting to recreate the original deck of cards.

Further online information about this project can be found at the Sandow Studios website or the information page about the artist.

The Brave One : Fitting title for an ambitious project

"The Brave One" Loteria Card

This card is chock full of symbolism.  The "Brave One" of the loteria deck is usually shown with a sharp dagger or skinning knife in one fist while a towel or poncho is thrown over the other.  If you just think of the standard bull fighter, you'll get the picture.  For this image, I've added additional spots of blood on his bronzed skin which are configured to align with the Orion constellation.  Wow!
Also shown in this painting of the loteria card is a star-spangled cape for El Valiente himself.  OK, that is more layers of meaning than my mind can handle right now.
By the way, his feet came out kind of funky.

This card can have many interpretations because of the variety of cultural symbols used.  For information about how this card is viewed during fortune telling readings, I've set up a special page.

Dragon Pear

"The Pear" Loteria Card

The loteria card "La Pera" is traditionally shown with a halved pear as the subject.  However, as I'd discovered earlier, the easier the subject of the card is, the more creative you have to be to paint it.  Sure, anyone could paint a regular pear for the subject, but it would be so boring to do, such a tedious grind, that it might take forever to actually finish.  When coming up with over 72 unique images for this deck, time isn't something that I have in spades.
For this pear I chose the image of an "Alligator Pear", which is actually much more approperiate considering the southwestern influences of the loteria deck.  The pit of the avocado is pictured as an embryo for some reptile.  As an interesting note, this wouldn't be that much of a stretch.  Amphibians are hatched, and so an egg-like embryo wasn't something that I could lay claim to having invented.  Mother nature beat me to it.

I've included a page explaining the divination interpretation for this card.