Patricia B.

Phare-Camp
ID#02116423
Fine Art Printmaking

A Day of the Dead Tarot

A Series of Woodcut Prints and Other Works Based on Tarot Cards

December 15, 2009

Phare-Camp A Day of the Dead Tarot

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Cover art: Calligraphic plate for Calaca 2009, a series of prints.
Phare-Camp A Day of the Dead Tarot

Bio

I cut my first tooth on a paintbrush in my Mother’s studio,

where I learned to draw and paint. My whole life has been

in an art studio. When I was a little girl I would sit and

make paper dolls, designing outfits for them as I watched

my Mother paint. It was an unusual household to grow up

in as my parents; one an artist, the other a computer

engineer, were polar opposites. Not only did I grow up

around right brained artists, I was also influenced by the

left brained logic of scientists and engineers. So naturally

Digital collage for the Fool tarot card. computers were also something I learned to use without

fear.

Since then I’ve learned to use the computer as a tool to development my art. I will sketch my

ideas, scan them, and then play with the digital images until I’ve determined the appropriate

composition and colors I will work with. Sometimes while playing around I’ll create digital

collages of my photos, sketches and ready-made computer clip art. I print the final plans, do a

painting of the image and/or transfer the digital print to wood for black & white or multi-color

woodcut prints. I often convey socially relevant and socially conscious dialogue in my art

through the use of subtle and not so subtle imagery along with a dose of humor.

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I love to correspond on line with other woodcut artists around the world and am a member of

www.barenforum.org, a worldwide woodcut artist’s Internet forum. I regularly participate in

print exchanges with these same artists.

I value education and have consistently taken college classes for over 25 years. For the near

future I look forward to sharing my education and experience teaching other aspiring artists in a

college environment while actively creating and exhibiting my own art works.

Digital collage for development of encaustic painting; Magus II.

Phare-Camp A Day of the Dead Tarot

Artist’s Résumé
Patricia B. Phare-Camp (916) 729-7632
7263 Cross Drive www.imp-s.com
Citrus Heights, CA 95610 phare-camp@imp-s.com

EDUCATION Graduate work in Fine Art Academy of Art University MFA

Candidate
Undergrad and Grad Classes CSU Sacramento Bachelor of
Fine Art Degree
Computer Graphics Applications Sierra College Professional
Growth
Using Macintosh Computers UC Davis Extension Professional
Growth
Fine Art & Graphic Design El Camino College AA Degree
Commercial Art Montgomery County JVS Career
Preparation

EXHIBITS 2009 Veterans Holiday Exhibition U20 Gallery

Sacramento, CA
2009 Alley Arts Festival Bridge to Art
Sacramento, CA
1994-2008 Altares Del Mundo A Celebration of Remembrance
Sacramento, CA
2008 Three Artists in March Blue Lamp Art and Music
Sacramento, CA
2007 KVIE Art Auction KVIE PBS
Sacramento, CA
2006 Dia de Los Muertos Space 15
Sacramento, CA
2002 Art Furniture Salon Center for Contemporary Art
Sacramento, CA
1992-2002 Body Matrix (annual) Matrix Arts Gallery
Sacramento, CA
2000 Fundawear 2000 Barton Gallery Annex
Sacramento, CA
2000 Spirits and Spaces SMUD Lobby
Sacramento, CA
2000 Opening & Monthly Shows Gallery 54
Sacramento, CA
1999 Tower Tower Tower Gallery
Sacramento, CA
1998 Upstairs @ the Gallery Native American Community
Center Sacramento, CA
1999 Phoenix Show WEAVE
Sacramento, CA
1997 The Print and the Passion Luna’s Café
Sacramento, CA
1995 & 96 A Confederacy of Printmakers Goes Public Phantom Galleries
Sacramento, CA

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 1995 International Independent Exhibition Kagawa Kenmin Gallery of
Prints Kanagawa Japan
1994 Emerging Artists International Limner Gallery
Soho, NY
1992 Auction & Fundraiser Austin Art Museum
Austin, TX

SOFTWARE Adobe Illustrator Adobe PageMaker Adobe

Photoshop
Adobe In Design Adobe Acrobat Desktop
Publishing programs
Web Studio MS FrontPage Fine Print pdf pro
MENTORS Craig Antrum Yolanda Phare Rachel
Stonecipher
Esteban Villa Carol Wagner Maximillo Garcia
Phare-Camp A Day of the Dead Tarot

The Project

My master’s project is the initial step into a significant body of work that has been formulating in

the back of my mind for probably most of my life. In addition to time spent in my mother’s

studio and father’s workshop, there were many other influences in my early life leading up to

this project. The first important influence was in my grandmother’s home library where I was

entertained for hours on end perusing her extensive collection of books about the weird and

supernatural as well as an impressive array of first edition metaphysical tomes such as Mdm.

Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine. Another outside influence came with the acquisition of my

first deck of Tarot cards.

When I was 15 I was babysitting and the kids

were asleep; seeking to relieve the boredom, I

scanned the family bookshelves and came across a

book on Tarot. The cover image was intriguing

and a quick scan of the contents compelling, so I

sat down and read it while the children dreamed.

The mom was surprised on her return to find me

wide awake. Realizing I’d been inspired by her

library, she pulled out an unopened Rider-Waite

The Priestess or Papess, from A Day of the
Tarot and gifted the deck and book to me. I Dead Tarot

treasured that gift and practiced with it for over 30 years. Finally in the late 1990’s I re-gifted the

book and well worn cards to another artist who was developing her own tarot deck. At that time I

was experiencing life changes; my only child had left home for military training and I quit my

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job at a television station to repurpose his unused college fund to resume my own interrupted

education.

In my first college printmaking

survey class I discovered woodcut

printing and have been near obsessed

ever since. I’ve also consciously

studied Tarot and metaphysics since

adolescence, so it’s only natural that I

should eventually come around to

combining my artistic and spiritual

interests.

The Candidate: an election year Day of the Dead installation. The most knowledgeable women I

ever met, my mentor, printmaker Carol Wagner, got me interested in exploring my own

neglected cultural heritage. She loved Native American and Mexican art and taught me much

about what I had previously taken for granted. She taught me more about my own culture than I

had learned in my home and community. Carol got me working with founding members of the

“Royal Chicano Air Force”, a group of political artists that began their advocacy at the side of

Cesar Chavez. She introduced me to the political woodcuts of Jose Guadalupe Posada and the

spiritual concepts of Native Americans. She influenced a greater appreciation of the sense of

humor in Duchamp’s ready-mades and the intellect of Escher’s tessellations. One year she asked

me to help her install an altar/art installation for Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead); a

celebration of remembrance that combines the influences of All Saints Day and Mexican

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indigenous spiritual traditions. We had too much fun gathering and assembling objects from flea

markets, thrift stores and the backs of our closets to create a cohesive three dimensional

statement of social relevance that was also aesthetic. The following year the director of a local

homeless veteran’s organization asked me to help them design and build their Day of the Dead

altar for the same exhibit. Thus began a spiritual evolution in the personal tradition of creating,

building, installing and blessing altars for local non profit organizations and “Altares del Mundo”

(Altars of the World), the annual art exhibit my mentor first got me started in and in which the

community kept me involved in. Little did I realize that in conjunction with continuing my

college education, this little sideline of mine would become a significant influence in the

evolution of my own art.

While held captivated in an intense art history lecture, I began to visualize the mythological

ideologies and Tarot based archetypes that were

being discussed. It began with imaginary visions

correlating the lecture discussion to the upcoming

Day of the Dead art and altar installations I was

preparing for. These daydreams lead to even

more imaginary visions of a Day of the Dead

Tarot. While at the Academy of Art, it dawned on

me that my medium, woodcut printing, would

materialize these visions beautifully to make a

great master’s thesis.

The Magus or Magician, from A Day of the

Dead Tarot

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My on-line education with the Academy of Art

has been equally, if not more influential in my

development as an artist than all of my previous

years of college courses. Through the on-line

classes at the Academy I’ve gained the ability to

purchase and safely set up my own home studio

with the tools and materials of a professional.

Land based classes, especially printmaking,

already have most of the tools and materials set

The Lovers card from a Day of the Dead Tarot. up for their students who rarely get the

opportunity to learn how to set up equipment and prepare hazardous materials. Having a

printmaking studio in my own home has been extremely liberating in that I’m not dependent on

public or university printmaking studios or limited by their hours of operation. If I’m on a roll

and want to work into the wee hours, I’m free to do so…

In addition to having the tools and materials I need to create at hand, the critical thinking needed

for developing conceptual ideas within my work has been refined by study of contemporary

philosophers, activists and artists in academic classes taken at the Academy of Art. One class,

on multiculturalism in art, helped me in expressing my artistic ideas with confidence in a

dominant society that tends to disenfranchise the works of women and ethnic groups. This is

more important than those belonging to a dominant culture would understand, as overcoming a

lifetime of cultural oppression means overcoming a lifetime of habitually not believing in your

ability to create socially viable artworks. For instance, the reason it took an outsider to introduce

me to my own culture is because my elders worked hard at raising me to “fit in” with the

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dominant culture’s standards of what has value. Another class was a history class that asked us

to describe our own work using the combined theories of psychology, philosophy and logic of

great contemporary thinkers.

My increasing confidence in my ability to present my ideas and expertise in handling the tools

and materials needed to develop them into works of art has given me the mental strength needed

to persevere toward developing my master’s project even in the face of several technical

setbacks. The aesthetic guidance when stuck trying to combine concept with composition, the

technical expertise when thinking through several technical issues and process puzzles and a

boost up when I was beset with personal roadblocks are significant contributions from my

project advisors. It was expressed beautifully by one of my peers when she commented in my

blog “I wish I had a directed study advisor for life…” My path in this project took many sharp

turns at the sound advice of advisors in regards to

aesthetics, ideas and most significantly in process.

The concept I have for the master’s thesis is to

create woodcut print editions of cards from the

Major Arcana of a Tarot deck with a Day of the

Dead theme. Eventually I intend to create the

whole deck but each card requires much meditation

and study to develop meaningful and poignant

symbolism and will therefore take several years to

complete all 78 cards. I see this as an ideal

opportunity to further my knowledge of the tarot in The Hierophant or Pope, from A Day of the Dead Tarot

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an effort to gain additional insight in regards to the development of my ideas for a meaningful

life work.

The Major Arcana are the most involved cards and are the foundation for the rest of the deck.

Their iconic symbolism represents the best and worst qualities of humanity. Some new age

groups claim that they are a road map or text book for initiation into increasingly higher levels of

spiritual growth. The deck I intend to create will tie the aspects of the Day of the Dead (an

indigenous cultural event) and the Tarot (a European gaming and divination device). I’ve been

developing this deck using iconography from my Chicano and Indigenous ancestry as well as

incorporating symbolism from my European and Modern American cultural background. Since

most archetypes and symbols are universal, I’ve been able to find and develop a wealth of cross

cultural transformational imagery.

I approach the development of each card by first examining the respective card in a variety of

different tarot decks. I then assemble digital images of the various cards into a digital

presentation so that I can study and compare the card’s visual history. These collected images

range from the first decks known from the 14th century to cards published within the past few

years. Many of the images come from scans of my own large collection of Tarot decks while

many others come from internet research, specifically from websites dedicated to Tarot.

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The High Priestess Tarot Card from left to right: Crowley Thoth, Rider-Waite, New Vision and Hanson
Roberts tarot decks.
Phare-Camp A Day of the Dead Tarot

I then move on to an in depth study of the card from four decks. Two of the decks are older

traditional decks developed in the early 1900’s; the Rider-Waite deck designed by Pamela

Coleman-Smith and the Thoth deck designed by Aleister Crowely and Lady Frieda Harris. The

other two are contemporary decks; the Hanson Roberts Tarot designed my Mary Hanson-Roberts

and the New Vision Tarot designed by Gianluca Cestaro & Pietro Alligo. I look at each card and

write down the symbols I notice, and then transpose those words into a chart to examine how

many of the archetypes are universal to the four decks.

I then sit down with 8 to 10 books on translation of Tarot cards and as I study each author’s

interpretation of the card I write down key words and phrases that strike a chord with me. Again

I am looking for universals in each book’s interpretation of the card’s meanings. A few favorites

are Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, Jung and Tarot by Sallie Nichols,

Mystical Origins of the Tarot by Paul Huson, The Crowley Tarot by Hajo Banzhaf and Living

the Qabalistic Tarot by Amber Jayanti; these books are so

rich in historical and interpretive information that I found

myself referring to them more than any others in my home

library.

While doing these studies I also try to personalize the cards

by hanging printout images where I will see them often,

carrying a “mini” version of the card in my wallet and

engaging in meditation exercises designed to assist in the

gaining of self actualization through Tarot.

One of Many Books used for study.

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Usually by the time I’ve finished study of a card I’m beginning to visualize my ideas. I then start

looking for digital photos and clip art of the elements within my imagined composition. As I

gather these images I cut and assemble them as a digital collage. This becomes my preliminary

sketch. I print the digital collage out and trace it as a line drawing onto a block of “shina”. I

carve a relief “key-line” block then transfer the key-line to other blocks to make my color blocks.

I started carving the blocks for the first two cards with the intention of using the Japanese Hanga

method of brushing watercolor pigments onto the block. After working through a few technical

issues, I found I preferred the color quality of the Graphic Chemical water soluble inks; so I’ve

merged the western and Japanese techniques. I carve Japanese style kentos for registration into

the blocks but I use western inks, brayers and an etching press to pull the prints. Sometimes I

add finishing touches in the Japanese way by brushing inks onto a separate block, then printing

it. I wanted these to be “cards” so I wanted a card

sized paper yet I also wanted it to be a very fine

paper. I researched and tried several papers, finally

choosing a 4x6” water color paper that has four

deckled sides. It is also a socially conscious “fair

trade” product; hand made by women in India using

recycled cotton rags. The durable tin boxes for

storing each deck are lined with remnants of a gold

vintage upholstery weight silk brocade leftover

from curtains my mother made in the 1970’s.

The Empress from A Day of the Dead Tarot. What I’m presenting today are 8 completed cards;

the Fool, Magus, Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers and the Chariot. Getting to

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this point has been quite a journey. I’ve had to develop my own research, study and meditation

techniques. I then had to internalize the universals from my study journals so that I could

manifest aesthetic artworks that had a distinctive personal touch yet held archetypes readily

available to the psyche of most viewers. This conceptual preparation for each card continues to

be a catalyst for deeper self knowledge and personal growth. And with the creation of each card

I have refined my technical skills and developed a distinctive creative style.

Also while working on the cards I’ve been inspired by the project to explore other ideas and have

developed several derivative works in other mediums.

Now that I have the technical issues resolved and a particular look developed for this life work, I

look forward to focusing a great deal of my

professional time into developing into a fuller

human being by continuing to engage in research,

study and meditation in the pursuit of creating the

full 78 card deck of this Day of the Dead Tarot by

Patricia B. Phare-Camp.

The Emperor card from a Day of the Dead

Tarot.

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Bibliography

Tarot Decks

Barker, Shirley and Jonathan Dee. Tarot. NY. Barnes and Nobles, 2004
Cestaro, Gianluca and Raul . The Tarot of the New Vision. Torino Italy. Lo
Scarabeo, 2003
Coleman-Smith, Pamela and Arthur Edward Waite. The Rider-Waite Tarot
Deck. Stamford, CT. U.S. Games Systems, 1971
Crowley, Aleister and Lady Frieda Harris. The Thoth Tarot. Austin, TX.
Ordo Templi Orientis, 1996.
Ferguson, Anne-Marie. The Llewellyn Tarot Companion. Woodbury, MN.
Llewellyn Publications, 2006
Greer, Bill and Lloyd Morgan. The Morgan-Greer Tarot. Stamford, CT. U.S.
Games Systems,1993
Hanson-Roberts, Mary. The Hanson-Roberts Tarot. Stamford, CT. U.S.
Games Systems, 1985
Kepple, Paul and Julie Paschkis. Tarot: A complete Deck of 78 Cards.
Philadelphia, PA. Running Press book Publishsers, 2002
Manara, Milo. The Erotic Tarot. Torino Italy. Lo Scarabeo, 2004
Matthews. Caitlin. The Da Vinci Enigma Tarot. NY. St. Martin's Press, 2005
Unknown. Ancient Tarots of Bogna: Giacomo Zoni in Bologna – 1780.
Torino Italy. Lo Scarabao, 2000
Unknown., Antiche Minchate Etrruria: Stampate in Firenze nel 1725.
Torino Italy. Lo Sarabao Antico, 1996

Tarot History and Interpretation

Akron and Hajo Branzhaf. The Crowley Tarot: the Handbook to the Cards
by Aleister Crolwey and Lady Frieda Harris. Stamford, CT. US. Games
Systems, 1995
Anonymous. Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian
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Berti, Gordano and Tiberio Gonard. Tarot of the New Vision. Torino, Italy.
Lo Scarabeo S.r.l., 2005
Greenaway, Leanna. Simply Tarot. NY. Sterling Publishing Co., 2005
Hoeller, Stephan. The Fool’s Pilgrimage: Kabbalistic Meditations on the
Tarot. Wheaton, IL. Quest Books, 2004
Huson, Paul. Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient Roots to Modern
Usage. Rochester, VT. Destiny Books,2004.
Jayanti, Amber. Living the Qabalistic Tarot: Applying an Ancient Oracle to
the Challenges of Modern Life. York Beach, ME. Weiser Books, 2004
Laurence, Theodor. How the Tarot Speaks to Modern Man. Harrisburg, PA.
Stackpole Books, 1952
Lionnet, Annie. The Tarot Directory. Edison, NJ. Chartwell Books, 2002
Phare-Camp A Day of the Dead Tarot

Nichols, Sallie. Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey. York Beach, ME.
Samuel Weiser, 1980
Pollack, Rachel. Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot.
London, WI, Element, 1997
Wang, Robert. Tarot Psychology. Columbia, MD. Marcus Aurelius Press,
2007

Tarot Meditation

Braden, Nina Lee. Tarot for Self Discovery. St. Paul, MN. Llewellyn
Worldwide, 2002
Greer, Mary. Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation.
Franklin Lakes, NJ. New Page Books, 2002
Jette, Christine. Tarot Shadow Work: Using the Dark Symbols to Heal. St.
Paul, MN. Llewellyn Worldwide, 2001
Levitt, Susan. Introduction to Tarot. Stamford, CT. US. Games Systems,
2003
Levitt, Susan. Tarot Journal. Stamford, CT. US. Games Systems, 2003
Pollack, Rachel. The Forest of Souls: A Walk Through the Tarot. St. Paul,
MN. Llewellyn Worldwide, 2005

Web Sites

Solandia, Aeclectic Tarot. 1996. Solandia, 3 Dec, 2009.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/
Wikipedia. Tarot. Creative Commons. 2 Dec 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot
David, Jean-Michael. Tarotpedia. 2006-2009. Association for Tarot Studies.
21 Nov 2009. http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/Tarot_Cards
Mealing, Robert. Tarot History. 2009. http://www.tarothistory.com/
O’Brien, Paul. Tarot.com: Experience the Wisdom. 2009. Visionary
Networks http://www.tarot.com/tarot/decks/index.php
Venefica, Avia. What’s Your Sign: The Doorway to Symbolsm. 2005-2010
Avia Venefica. http://www.whats-your-sign.com/

Box Making

Stonecipher, Rachel. Assistance and Guidance in Lining Boxes.

Sacramento, CA. 2009

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Calaca 5 a mixed media print