Dreamdance: Unity

Dreamdance: Unity
9x12 inches
Medium: Watercolors
From the deck-in-progress: Dreamdance Oracle
Detail closeup  views, & prints available -here-

Satyros Phil Brucato writes for this card:

There’s strength in Unity. Here, the illusion of tribal “otherness” fades away, replaced by an awareness that “All Are One and One are All.” In this Dance, we come together, transcend our separations, and seek wisdom from the blending of traditions rather than the rigidity of a single approach. The Dance of Unity heals divisions, shares blessings, and calls people together in a loving whole. In this new millennium, Unity may be the ultimate path of human survival.

And yet, as we Dance this circle, we must be careful not to lose ourselves in it. It’s far too easy to pat ourselves on our collective back while ignoring the cracks beneath our feet. There’s a balance between Self-ishness and the total loss of Self; without that balance, we risk losing the precious contributions that difference brings. We are creatures of diversity, whose cultural and biological differences combine to make a stronger whole. Without that balance, we’re just “spinning our wheels,” making pretty designs but ultimately going nowhere.

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Sketches and in-progress scans:Initial  scribbly brainstorming in my sketchbook.

More refined sketch

And ready for painting.

Super rough color test in photoshop. Threw together textures from older paintings, and then fiddle with color balance on selections, just to get an idea of where to go before I pull out the watercolors and go at it for real.

First few layers of painting.

Used a bit of gel pen to enhance the "glow" around the medicine wheel stones.

Cabbage blue!