Lettie Jane’s Intuitive Drawing is a weekly newsletter about making art. This year I am trying to publish 52 newsletters that are each an art lesson of sorts. They are an invitation to draw, if you feel inclined, but also a description of why I do. I encourage you to take what you need and leave the rest.
Greetings friends,
My tarot deck, Many Queens Tarot is being rereleased into the world TODAY, Tuesday, October 15. Hence, you get your regularly scheduled Wednesday newsletter on a Tuesday.
There have been many mile markers along the way with this project and I’d like to spend this newsletter outlining a few of these. I will be nailing down some dates, and writing about the production side of things in a way I haven’t before. I have spent a lot of time talking about the introspective and healing journey this deck brought to me. It taught me to think about femininity more expansively, celebrate queerness and acknowledge clearly that I’m queer, and take steps to become more body positive.
I’m going to move through this reflection with chronological dates, which I’ve excavated from emails, photos, and Instagram. I’ll acknowledge the support of specific people along the way but know that there are many, many people I am not naming who were a part of this journey that I may not have mentioned. Know that for all of you, I am grateful.
January 28, 2018 - The first tarot card I ever illustrated! I went to a restaurant that used tarot cards as table numbers. While on an uncomfortable date with someone, they brought us this card and I drew it. This is what I posted on Instagram at that time:
I started drawing the 7 of swords today. Two swords are left on the ground, let’s say they’re invisible here, since I didn’t get around to drawing them. The 7 of swords is about deception and getting away with things. Perhaps sneaking away from uncomfortable situations rather than doing the hard work of talking about hard things. It was my place holder at brunch today 😳 don’t worry, I paid the bill.
This didn’t result in my illustrating the deck, but it might have planted the seed. At this point, I had lightly been reading tarot cards for myself and my friends for about 10 years. It made me no expert, but I was familiar. I had been doing some work with a tarot reader (Erin Aquarian) as a creative coach, and that provided me with a deeper structural knowledge of the way the cards worked.
April 8th, 2018 - I made my first drawing from the tarot in the #100dayproject and this is what I wrote on Instagram: Well, I’m not sure I can do it, but I’d like to try to illustrate the tarot, and I might be crazy, but I thought I’d try for #the100dayproject starting late, at day 5, here are the five of wands. 5/100
I started with the 5 of Wands, moving chronologically from there. I caught up and drew the Ace through 4 of Wands after posting this image. I don’t recall my exact process here, but 5 days later on April 13th, I posted the Ace, 2, 3, and 4 of Wands. My idea was to start with fire because it embodies creativity and forward momentum. I like working through the tarot chronologically, my life often feels chaotic, and it felt like a systematic approach I didn’t have to question. Many of the meanings of the cards began to resonate with what was going on for me on that day. Starting with the 7 of swords in January. I will always remember that the card refers to a kind of deception, whether internal or external because I illustrated it while I was on a date with someone I didn’t like. I was trying to be nice, but I knew I didn’t want to go out with that person, I was deceiving myself.
July 6th, 2018 - I illustrated the tarot as a daily drawing practice and the drawings flowed out of me. This project had more momentum and excitement for me than most. I remember feeling excited to make my drawing every day. I started the drawings with very rough pencil drawings and used a brush pen to ink in the black and white lines. I didn’t thumbnail, I didn’t have dialogues with myself about what I was doing conceptually, I just kept drawing people in ways that felt interesting to me.
In the process of illustrating the tarot, folks convinced me that I should publish the deck. I owned a couple of Indie-published decks myself. The prospect would have been daunting to think about before I started the drawings, but once they were finished I began to research card manufacturers and self-publishing options. At the time I found 3 main sources for printing cards: makeplayingcards.com, Shuffled Ink, and Print Ninja. I went with Print Ninja because their website felt most intuitive to me. I later printed a mini run of smaller cards from Shuffled Ink, because they have a factory in the United States. Print Ninja only prints cards in China. I realized I would need to fundraise to make this project a reality. I didn’t have $5,000 hanging around to print my edition (the sum I’d estimated based on a variety of specs through the Print Ninja website, including box style and card material). I had folks recommend Kickstarter to me.
August 28th, 2018 - The Kickstarter Launches. There were a lot of conversations and support that led me to launch a Kickstarter. My roommate at the time, Kacey was the at-home support. My friend Mike Buchino offered me production support, texting me to remind me to email certain people or telling me I was doing a good job. Anne Parmeter, who I connected with through Buchino created the video featured in my Kickstarter campaign. I was scared of putting myself out there. I felt vulnerable and anxious and I had a shame-based relationship to money. I didn’t want to ask people for money at all.
If I am being honest with you, I still feel panic when I look at this Kickstarter page. I am so grateful that I got the funds to print this deck, but the memories of communication, fulfillment, keeping track of the money, and the exact cost (13k?) of that first printing feel lost to me. I was a total beginner at this thing! I made loads of mistakes! I might have sent you the wrong thing or sent you something late, or maybe I never emailed you back. All of these things happened.
September 27, 2018 - was the end of the Kickstarter campaign and this is a photo of a tarot reading I gave myself that day. You can see that the 10 of Swords was in the past position: overwhelmed and done for; the King of Cups was in the current position: emotional warmth and richness; Justice was in my future: finding balance and living justly.
Talking about the production of the deck naturally led to talking about the Kickstarter campaign, but there were a few things to note that happened between July 6th (the illustration of The World, the final card in the tarot) and August 28th (the beginning of the Kickstarter). I scanned all the cards in and edited a few of them that I wanted to improve. I added text to any that didn’t have it. I designed the back of the cards and the box, and I wrote the booklet. I had my friend Ira Leigh lay out the booklet and I had my best friend Amelia Pillow provide me with feedback on the writing. I also had an art show displaying all 78 drawings which resulted in the title of the deck, thanks to my brilliant friend, Amy Subach.
Amy created a series of 4 quilts with the Golden Girls as each of the Queens of the Tarot. Here you see Dorothy as the Queen of Swords on the left and my Empress drawing on the right. Amy asked me to show my work with her quilts at a little gallery in Portland called Union Knott. Since she was bringing Queens and there were so many femmes in my deck who embodied this self-loving energy we came up with the title MANY QUEENS.
Our opening was August 10th and the closing was August 31st between those two dates we had a music show with poetry, two drawing parties, one with coloring pages for children, and a mending night, where folks brought things to sew in the space, and during the closing party, we played the Golden Girls on a projector.
I have to admit that I feel exhausted just looking at all of this—it’s the same big fire energy that the Wands brought with me starting this deck—but I remember these gatherings of people bringing me so much joy at the time.
January 9th, 2019 - Printing things in China means that it takes a long time to arrive. I thought running my Kickstarter campaign when I did I would have the cards in time for Christmas, but they arrived in January. What a wild ride to suddenly have 1,000 tarot decks in my hands. Was this all 1,000 pictured? I don’t know! I can’t remember! But for photographic purposes, it does look like a lot, doesn’t it?
February 16th, 2019 - Seagrape threw their first Tarot Release Party with me! It’s wild to think that 5 years later they will again be hosting me (this Friday, 10/18 RSVP here). This was in their old space where I had painted both their magical window (pictured above) and this protective mural (pictured below). I was so supported by Maria of Seagrape, who believed in this deck from the first time they saw it. My friend Alyssa made me this power suit, Terridid my make-up for the party, and Kelli ran my merch table. I am ever grateful to Coleman Stevenson of The Dark Exact for tapping me into the Tarot Community in Portland. I sold prints and decks and talked about queerness, body hair, the portraits in the deck, everyday magic, and drawing.
My first printing was 1,000 decks. I don’t know if I sold out of them by September, but I know that’s when I reordered the second edition of Many Queens.
I changed the back of the card so it was symmetrical (you could no longer tell if a card was reversed or upright by looking at the back), there were several misspellings on the cards, and in the booklet that I fixed and I ordered a second 1,000 decks which arrived in late November, 2019.
It was also around this time that I designed and ordered a small edition of “shuffle" size” decks from Shuffled Ink. I wanted to try out the printers based in the US and had had several people ask me about smaller -sized cards that would be easier to shuffle. I gave these cards a different cover, in pink and gold with the same eyeball design to differentiate. I ordered 250 of these smaller decks. Because they were printed in the United States they cost a little more to produce than the larger decks, but for marketing purposes it was challenging to ask for more money for them because they were smaller.
By Christmas Season 2019, I had both decks to sell and I had a booth at Portland’s Crafty Wonderland. There’s my beautiful friend, Kelli Brandt who helped me at the booth.
I have never worked in retail, and to this day I still don’t understand retail planning deadlines. In 2019 I was still trying desperately to look 2 weeks ahead in time, not 2 years. My son was 5 and he had started Kindergarten that fall, with much difficulty. Thinking about the ways Many Queens moved through my life I usually talk about the concepts that come up during tarot readings: the life lessons, the body positivity, the connections I’ve made with people over the years.
Reflecting on this process in the newsletter I acknowledge how much this project taught me about running a business, managing money, products, communication, my expectations, and the expectations of others. In 2019, I was playing a game of catch-up and trying to meet the demands of putting a product into the world and selling it.
September 27, 2021 - I ordered the 3rd edition of Many Queens in 2021, which means that I have held, moved, packaged, given, and sold 3,250 copies of this tarot deck. I looked through my photos to find photographic evidence of this third edition, but there is none. I had just moved in with my partner and his 3 kids and everything was chaos, so another 1,000 tarot decks appear to not have been document-worthy at that time.
September 2023 - Just over a year ago I was almost out of that last printing of the tarot deck. I was faced with a decision, should I order another printing? Should I let the tarot deck go out of print? Should I find a publisher for the deck?
Charlie Claire Burgess was someone who I knew through the tarot community, they had initially self-published their stunningly queer tarot deck, Fifth Spirit Tarot. They then sold Fifth Spirit to a publisher, Hay House, and rereleased the deck last September. I asked them about their experience and they connected me with their agent, Kelly Van Zandt. Kelly agreed to represent me and Many Queens and look for a publisher.
I wasn’t sure how to make this decision. I have felt so much joy over the years connecting with people over this deck, either through email, Instagram messages, readings, tarot talks, or teaching. BUT I didn’t like keeping track of retailers, inventory, and promotional materials. I wasn’t good at it and I didn’t want to get better. I didn’t want this deck to stop being in the world, but I would prefer to let folks who have systems for inventory tracking take it over.
Kelly, my agent, was a dream. She helped me craft a proposal and found and made a deal with the publisher Andrews McMeel. They made my decision easy. I feel relief that I no longer need to coordinate with all the wholesalers, and yet my deck is in the world again, and it’s beautiful. The art is the same, the box has gold foil lettering, and the booklet contains the same wisdom as before.
You can preorder the new edition from Bookshop here.
It’s wild that 5 and a half years later I am celebrating again with Seagrape Apothecary! This Friday, October 18th, we will party from 5:00-7:00 pm. Their updated location at 2823 NE Sandy Blvd. has a new mural by me. I have two guests giving tarot readings at the event: the previously mentioned Charlie Claire Burgess of Fifth Spirit Tarot and Zephyr Pfotenhauer of Bon Sequitur Tarot. There will be snacks! I will be signing decks!
Today is also the end of the GIVEAWAY I am running with Andrews McMeel. If you are interested in getting a tote bag and stickers (US only) or a digital print (International) be sure to send a screenshot of your preordered deck to one of these GIVEAWAY links:
International - digital print!!!
Thank you all for reading through this newsletter with me. This reflection feels like its own journey—a little time travel back through a project that has deeply impacted my life and continues to do so. Thank you for your support and involvement along the way.
Much love, Lettie Jane
Upcoming Events & Announcements:
Tarot Release Party!!! - RSVP $5 at the link
Friday, October 18th, 5:00-7:00 pm
Seagrape Apothecary, Portland, OR
My Art Show Opening at The Purple Door, Portland
Friday, October 25th, 5:00-8:00 pm(The show will be up through the end of November)
Tarot Reading at The Purple Door, Portland
Friday, November 15th, 5:00-8:00 pm
Ulna Studio’s Olympic Mills Art Show
107 SE Washington St, Portland, OR
Opening party Friday, November 8th, 5:00-8:00 pm
Take A Class with me:
One Time Crit Class Facilitated by Jolyn, Lettie & Cole (October 18)
Instructor: Jolyn Fry, Lettie Jane Rennekamp, and Cole Lyons
Dates: Friday, October 18thOne Time Crit Class Facilitated by Jolyn, Lettie & Cole (November 3rd)
Instructor: Jolyn Fry, Lettie Jane Rennekamp, and Cole Lyons
Dates: Sunday, November 3rdTarot Drawing Weekend Workshop (November 9th & 16th)
Dates: Saturdays, November 9th & 16th
Time: Saturdays 10:30 am – 1:00 pmDeeper Drawing (Saturday Afternoon) Nov-Dec 2024
Dates: Saturdays, November 9th – December 14th
Time: 1:30 pm-4:30 pmPortrait Drawing From Life (November 23rd)
Dates: Saturday, November 23rd
Time: 10:00 am – 1:00 pmIntro To Watercolor (December 7th & 14th)
Dates: December 7th & 14th
Time: 10:00 am – 1:00 pmLINE TIME is the magical, monthly podcast I make in collaboration with Sanae, Breesa, and Jason. It’s a 15-minute invitation to make an abstract drawing.
Check out all the Ulna Classes: https://www.ulnastudio.com
Bun Updates:
There is a video on the internet that exclaims she has a beautiful body like a potato! We have been likening Jiji to a potato for months. I love to hear Nicky tell her she has a beautiful body like a potato and I love the body positivity therein. Look at that silky little potato. She is my favorite.
Waking up early and petting her before anyone else gets up is one of the great pleasures of my life. I talk about her with the children constantly, I sing songs about her in the mornings when I am making breakfast and doing the dishes. She is the love of our household’s life. She is dignified, dainty, and well mannered. I preach that there is no perfection in art, but there is in bunnies and she is it.
You can listen to this song to celebrate her.
The 2025 Calendar:
Strength Comes In Many Forms, you can ORDER IT HERE!
Yay!! Proud of you! Stoked to be on a little leg of the journey with you! A little potato leg!