Pimp My Artwork 059: The Empress
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 7:20AM 
When I started the 40 days of tarot I had a specific idea of what I wanted it to be. I would paint furiously and finish as many cards as I could in the 40 day period. I did not factor in that there would be commissions, tarot clients, and everyday life. Although I'm still doing the 40 days of tarot, (day 17) I've only finished two and have the references for The Star. I have however finished many edits on the writing and lived each of the cards as I've made them. If anything this time has become an incredibly inspired moment in my existence. Every day does have something to do with the tarot just not in the way that I expected.
At that time I started painting the Empress I couldn't feel her energy. I was still feeling the presence of an unexpected end to a friendship and hanging onto it. The only way to get out of this funk was to paint my way out. Just as the Emperor card had come to pull me out of a funk, the Empress was here to do the same. Larisa Fuchs is an incredibly dear friend and once again I wanted to paint someone who brought me joy.She reminded me that the person was never really a good friend and that the universe had it's reasons for letting this one go. I wasn't quite willing to accept it. We joked a few days before I started painting the card that out of everyone she was probably the most accessible and yet the card was just coming into existence now and at such an auspicious time too. Larisa had just rented a loft, a dream space that had been coming up in her tarot for years. The world you see, had given it's Empress the space to create her empire. Gemini and Scorpio finally had a home. I was happy for her, and that happiness melted away any sadness that I had within me. To create is to heal and to heal is to live. The Empress card is in essence that life force telling you to live, create, and thrive.
The Empress reminds us that although we may be on the right path that things take time to truly develop properly and they cannot be rushed. Larisa experienced it herself while looking for the loft, which was years. Some spaces came into her life, looked like good deals, and then would fall through, the perfect space you see was just waiting. Larisa told me that when she found the loft it wasn't even for rent. The landlord ended up showing her the space accidentally. The Empress is the great creator, the ultimate muse. She inspires and infects people with her enthusiasm and drive to keep going even when things feel stagnant. In some decks she is seen is the great mother but we are all mothers of our creative children. Every time we paint, write, dance, we are giving birth to a creation. The Empress is generous and devoted. She is patient and kind but she is also master over her domain. Try to get in her way and you will be knocked down.
Work in Progress pic.
The energy when painting this card completely shifted my viewpoint. It made me appreciate being an artist and understand it on a whole new level. I took a new route and reassessed what I was doing.The Empress tells you to make a plan, be patient, tend to your work and it will grow. It takes time, understanding, and patience. It takes knowing that the outcome will be good and trusting the universe in it's divine plan.
Gemini and Scorpio in Pimp My Artwork 
