Aqua Summersus Tarot card deck is a set of 79 photographs by underwater fine art photographer Cheryl Walsh. In the summer of 2020, she carried out 20 underwater photoshoots with 12 models and multiple designers, followed in 2021 by 10 months of full-time artistic editing to bring the project to life. The resulting elaborate and fantastical images are colorful, inspiring, and mesmerizing. The project is the manifestation of a journey toward personal happiness and a message of encouragement.
November 2022
Wow, what a year. I've spent the entire year trying to get these decks printed only to hit one roadblock after another. Just when we were getting close in August news came out that there were new lockdowns due to the pandemic in the region where the decks will be printed. It's been off and on lockdowns ever since. Earlier this week we have some progress, I hope. I've been promised that printed proofs will be arriving in 6 to 8 weeks. Once I approve the color and density of the printing on the proofs then I will approve the printing of the decks. I'm ordering 1000 decks on very thick high-quality art paper with a "rose petal" finish. Once I approve for printing it takes at least 30 days to get them printed, then at least 40 days to deliver them to my door. I'm as anxious as anyone else to get these done and into my hands but after all the delays I'm considering this to be a lesson in patience. Because of all the delays, I do not know if I will offer the decks on Kickstarter or just on my website shop. I have decided that I will for sure offer the decks to the people on my newsletter list first. Seeing as I'm only having 1000 decks printed and I have many thousands of people on my email list I would highly recommend that anyone who is interested in the deck to sign up for my email list on my website. Also, on a very personal note...my partner was just diagnosed with colon cancer and will have surgery on November 1st. I will be nursing him back to health for at least all of November. It's a scary diagnosis and aggressive surgery but we feel optimistic.
May 2022
World events have gotten in the way of this project like I never knew they could. Don't get me wrong, I have no complaints whatsoever as these events have affected people around the world in catastrophic ways while I'm safe, healthy, and happy with my loved ones. My heart breaks for the people of Ukraine as war ravages them and the people of China as the pandemic has caused so much illness. The first issue I ran into was getting the artwork for the back of the cards done. Long story short...I found an artist that I truly bonded with and we started the process of her making the design for the card backs. Within days the war in Ukraine started and my beloved artist in Siberia was cut off due to economic sanctions. We figured it out just recently and the card back design is beautiful, meaningful, and complete. The last phase of this project is to get the card decks manufactured. This is primarily done in Shenzhen, China which was locked down due to the global pandemic for much of this year. I'm now in talks with someone to get a contract signed so we can start production soon. These delays were a sign from the universe for me to slow down, be grateful for every single moment of my life and be as kind and generous as I can to others. I'm good with that. I will let you know when the contract is signed and production has begun. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer. In the meantime, I have been doing a little bit of traveling for the purposes of teaching printing to photographers and soon I will travel to Cape Cod for a memorial for my beloved, tarot card loving, Aunty Patty who passed away last year. Then, just a few weeks later, I start exhibiting my work at the Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts again.
This year I will be there from July 5th through Sept 8th, 2022.
Please come by and see me :)
January 2022
I'm working on the Kickstarter campaign, making a new website, finding a company to print the deck, moving to a new office/studio space, and a few other major things, but...I'm still working towards getting the images released in the spring.