About Joanna Powell Colbert

I’m an artist, author and teacher who spent nine years creating the Gaian Tarot while living on a small rural island in the Pacific Northwest. I chronicled my journey of deck creation on my blog, starting in 2004, and many of you came along for the ride.

The Gaian Tarot grew out of my relationship with the natural world where I live and the people in my neighborhood and spiritual community. Many of the scenes in the deck are based on sketches from my nature journals and photos I’ve taken of local landscapes. Almost every animal, bird or plant in the cards is one that I have encountered personally in my naturalist studies. I know their natural history as well as their mythic resonances — Raven and Coyote are not only mythic tricksters but also neighbors. Most of the models for the figures in my cards are friends or friends of friends. I’ve always loved painting the “numinous” in the everyday person, and that’s what I’ve done here.

You can read all about my creative process here.

The happy day came when the deck and book were finally done, and I released a deluxe, Limited Edition of 1000 in March 2010. A year later, over 70% of those have already found happy homes.

The mass market edition of The Gaian Tarot was published by Llewellyn Worldwide in September 2011. (Now available on Amazon!)

I host the engaging membership site, Gaian Tarot Circle, which I created for people who want to participate in a community centered on the study of the Gaian Tarot.

I teach e-courses and workshops around the country on earth-centered spirituality, manifesting your dreams, creativity as a devotional path, and Tarot as a tool for inner guidance and self-exploration.

My artwork and writing have appeared frequently over the years in SageWoman, PanGaia and Circle magazines, among many others.

I sell my colored-pencil paintings and mixed media pieces as originals and limited edition prints. Amber Lotus Publishing Co. calls me one of “the most accomplished and well-loved artists in the Goddess-spirit community.”

I am dedicated to the Ocean Mother in all Her guises, and am a lover of Mama Gaia.

I’m a Capricorn Sun, Taurus Moon and Taurus Rising.

I live on the edge of the woods outside Bellingham, Washington with my husband, musician Craig Olson, and our two cats, Cleo and Smokey. Our house is called Rainbow Cottage, which we named for the rainbows that fill the living room on late afternoons when the sun shines through prisms high in clerestory windows.

Oh, and my baby granddaughter Gracie is the most beautiful child in the whole, entire world!

Thanks for visiting. I look forward to connecting with you on my blog, on Facebook or Twitter, in an online course, or in person at a live event. You can check my schedule here.

Brightest Blessings,

P.S.  If you want to learn more about how I came to create the Gaian Tarot, check out these interviews with Goddess Leonie and Catherine Chapman of Tarot Elements.