The Empress
I went through a “crunchy” phase about 20 years ago during which I wore unbleached, drab-colored clothing, Birkenstocks, and made my own shampoo and laundry detergent.
These actions were fueled by a longing to do something to help the environment from the perceived toxic wasteland that I witnessed all around me. Growing up in the Cleveland area, it wasn’t hard to see that we humans had really done a number on the planet.
Me in my earthy crunchy phase, circa 2003
REI fleece, zip-off hiking pants, fanny pack.
Look at that big grin on my face!
Now, I still care about the planet and I still wear Birkenstocks (really cute pink ones, thank you very much). But I also see the beauty all around me, the resilience of nature, and the great planetary and universal forces that are in play.
The Empress card made me pause and think: if this card is usually portrayed as an earth mother or nurturing person, how could I relate that to my own life?
Examples from other tarot artists
First, here are some lovely examples of The Empress cards by various artists of tarot decks I own and use myself. I particularly love the second one in the top row: Modern Witch Tarot Deck by Lisa Sterle.
The Empress cards from my collection of tarot decks, clockwise from top left: Rider-Waite Tarot, illustrated by Pamela Coleman Smith; Modern Witch Tarot Deck by Lisa Sterle; The Wild Unknown Tarot by Kim Krans; The Gentle Tarot by Mari in the Sky; Rainbow Heart Tarot by Rachel Rosenkoetter; and The Reclaimed Tarot, ReClaim it! PDX, collage by Samantha Caruthers-Knight.
Some ideas are better in my head 🍄
When I envisioned the meaning of The Empress card, I thought it should be something that sustains life, but does it in an unseen way. Like mushrooms. Well, mycelium, to be specific.
The documentary, Fantastic Fungi made me realize how omnipresent fungi are. They help trees communicate with each other across distances, decompose matter to become new life forms, and some even live for thousands of years.
So, I attempted to sketch The Empress as the largest mycelium ever recorded, which happens to be in Oregon where I live.
Here is my sketch:
My first sketch of The Empress: mycelium from the “Humungus Fungus,” the largest organism in the world, Armillaria Ostoyae, which lives in Southeastern Oregon. More here.
Ok, so the idea was better in my head.
Inspiration #2: My own garden
I wanted my Empress card to represent the other ways that we can nurture life. I thought of all the ways I nurture plants and flowers in my garden. I fertilize, prune, plant seeds, add compost, water, and say sweet things to my plants to get my garden to grow. I am rewarded by dazzling flowers of all different colors of the rainbow.
It’s June in Portland as I write this, which means my garden is in full bloom. Here are some snapshots I took today.
Flowers in my Portland, Oregon garden.
I re-drew The Empress as a gardener, with her tools at the ready. She has a tiara on top of her garden hat. Because, why not??
Sketch #2
A gardenista.
The final illustration
Below is my final illustration for The Empress card.
Process notes
To create the windswept blue sky, I wet the whole sky area with water, then brushed on two different blue shades of EcoLine watercolor ink. I let them fizz into the paper as they dried.
I used masking fluid on all of the coneflowers, then painted in the green background of the flower bed.
Her earrings are gold paint pen, but the shimmer doesn’t show up on the scan.
The rest of the detail I did with EcoLine paint brush pens, blending with a water brush as I went.
The Empress card illustration from my forthcoming Tarot of These Times deck, anticipated 2026.
Next up: The Hierophant ☦️ 🐝
The next card in the Major Arcana I am illustrating is The Hierophant. You won’t BEElieve it.
What do you think of this card?
Leave me a comment below
I read every comment, and I love to hear from you!
Footnotes
Materials notes from this post
Blick Hot Press 100% cotton watercolor paper, EcoLine liquid watercolor paint and brush pens, masking fluid.
Learn about tarot
Want to learn more about tarot? I highly recommend the book Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self through the Wisdom of the Cards by Michelle Tea.
A note about Ai and this project
I do not use Ai (artificial intelligence) to write any of the content for this blog, my other blog Behind the Scenes, or this website.
