Date: Monday, March 27th, 2023
Time: 7 pm EST

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From a young girl publishing illustrated Jamaican Folk Tales to being the first artist Alfred Stieglitz featured at his 291 Gallery to her illustration of the iconic Rider Waite tarot deck, this talk will investigate British artist, illustrator, writer and occultist Pamela Colman Smith's journey as an artist.

Colman Smith's work spanned many continents and styles including primitive, illustrative, commercial, graphic, and fine art. We'll chart her influences from Jamaica and Japan as well as Brooklyn’s Pratt Art School and the London art scene, all of which she drew from to create a unique style informed by her experience of synesthesia. This presentation will survey the broad scope of Pamela's artistic repertoire, considering not only her tarot work but also artwork held by in museums in the U.S. and U.K. We will investigate how her artist talents and psychic nature lent themselves to the Rider Waite Smith Tarot Deck, and take a look at some of her artwork that has rarely been seen before.

Susan Wands is a writer, tarot reader, and actor. She graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in theater and women's studie,s and has acted professionally across the United States and on Broadway. Her adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was produced at the Cornish Institute in Seattle. She has written plays, screenplays, and skits, produced several indie films, and was a company member in Rumble in the Red Room, an off-Broadway troupe, for four years.

As a co-chair with the NYC Chapter of the Historical Novel Society, she helps produce monthly online book launches and author panels. In London, she has lectured at Watkins Books for their Recorded Authors series, and has presented at three Occulture Berlin Conferences. Ms. Wands' writings have appeared in Art in Fiction, Kindred Spirits magazine, and The Irving Society journal, FIRST KNIGHT. Some of her podcast interviews include: 'Biddy Tarot', ‘Imaginary Worlds’, ‘Bad Ass Bitches Tarot’, and the ‘Spirited Tarot’ YouTube channel. She lives in NYC with her husband, actor Robert Petkoff, and two cats, Flora and Flynn. Her identical twin sister, Cynthia, lives in Los Angeles. Her first book in a series, Magician and Fool, Book One, Arcana Oracle Series was published in May 2022. High Priestess and Empress, is the second in the series and Emperor and Hierophant, the third book, is in final edits.

Image: Visonary New York Skyline, Pamela Colman Smith, courtesy of Derek and Kimberly Notman