Inspired by the natural wonder of the Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest Tarot is a 78-card deck illustrated with plant and animal life from the Pacific Northwest. Each card is represented by a different species that makes its home here. Short fiction and prose passages in the guidebook connect each illustration to its tarot archetype.
This Deck’s Story
The Pacific Northwest Tarot was my pandemic art project, a year-long obsession, and my love letter to the region I live in.
I began drawing the illustrations in April of 2020. Equating the isolation of the early days of lockdown to a period of hibernation, I drew a black bear as the Hermit card. Next came a crow as the Magician and grey foxes as the Lovers. The activity of drawing kept me balanced, and the project gained momentum.
I sought to learn more about the Pacific Northwest at a time when I couldn’t explore it in person. I used the forced downtime to push myself as an artist. I spent time thinking about and interpreting each card in the tarot, building my own associations and connections. I didn’t set out to complete a full deck, only to dwell in each moment of the process.
As I shared the images online, I connected with a tarot community that I hadn’t even known existed. The warmth and enthusiasm I received pushed me to take the project further. The support of tarot readers, Pacific Northwest residents who connected to my artwork, and other deck creators motivated me to publish the deck. I wanted to make it available to that community.
I finished drawing the artwork for the deck exactly a year after I started. Of course, last minute edits, finishing the guidebook, designing the box, and doing all the prepress work took longer.
In June of 2021 I launched the Pacific Northwest Tarot on Kickstarter. It succeeded far beyond my expectations, with more than 1,300 people backing the project. In the time since, I delivered to Kickstarter backers, opened an Etsy store, and reprinted the deck after the first edition sold out.
Giving Back
It’s important to me that the Pacific Northwest Tarot contributes back to the land that inspired it.
In September of 2020, when I was midway through drawing the deck, wildfires were burning through more than a million acres of land in the Pacific Northwest. Smoke filled the air in Portland, and for days we hid indoors, taping over doors and windows to keep out the campfire smell of our burning forests. As I tried to draw creature of the Pacific Northwest, I was struck that the air I was breathing carried the last remains of their habitats.
At that moment the project found a new purpose. I had experienced a terrifying glimpse of a likely future, and the fragility of our ecosystem suddenly felt real in a new way. I didn’t know if the Pacific Northwest Tarot would earn any money, but I decided that if it did I would give back generously to protect the region.
In 2021, thanks to my Kickstarter supporters, I donated $20,000 to conservation-focused non-profits in the Pacific Northwest. Going forward, I will donate at least 10% of all sales of the deck.
The list of non-profit organizations supported by the Pacific Northwest includes groups that fight for stronger environmental protections, restore habitats, support Indigenous causes and communities, and acquire land for preservation.
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The second edition of the Pacific Northwest Tarot is now available. Sign up to be notified of any future news and new projects.
The Pacific Northwest Tarot is now on Etsy
Tarot card art prints available on Society6
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