I have turned the corner and can see the sunlight peeping through on the horizon…
The painting isn’t finished, not for a while yet… However, I felt it was time to share an update – mainly because my cat model is eager to see if she’s being portrayed to her liking … After painting and fluffing every strand of fur, I really hope she approves :)
He or She…?
The guides in the 10 of Swords move beyond the realms of what we see and know as humans… Their role is to provide comfort and to gently guide us through harrowing loss and defeat, to a place in the mind where we see that all is not lost.
At first I thought of Cat as ‘he’, then my cat model Morticia made me think of Cat as ‘she’. Raven on the other hand, has been both he and she all along … It dawned on me that my reluctance to pin down the gender of the guides in this artwork stems from a feeling that they are both… and that gender itself plays little part in who they are …
You can read more about the early stages of painting this card and the 10 of Swords in this post – next update I hope to share the finished artwork :)
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Stay safe and well – and thanks for visiting!
Annette :)
I love your take on this card! And I agree…more tarot cards should be gender-free, what does it matter the gender of the figure? The freer this is in the creator’s mind, the freer the querent is to apply the card however they feel is right :)
I just love the cat sitting there as if nothing dramatic is happening! Cats eh.
Thank you Beth :) Gender is fascinating on so many levels, for me, I think freedom is somewhere in between seeing what’s underneath and celebrating who you are :)
Cats indeed do have that way of knowing that at least they will be fine :)
Morticia is pleased with the portrait, though she said that she does have a little more white on her nose. She was a little peeved to have been thought of as a ‘he’, but has calmed down since I told her that you very definitely regard the cat in the painting as a ‘she’. Personally, I love the painting, and I agree with you about gender being able to be either – after all, gender is not the central thing. It is important to be able to focus one’s thinking on the essential message in each card – a message which really has absolutely nothing at all to do with gender.
Thank you :) … and I’m happy for Morticia to see Cat anyway she likes, as long as she is happy :) I will have a look at that nose of hers ;)