My newest Tarot card is up on my website: the Cat Tarot Judgement. See and read about it on my
HREF="http://LunaRivera.tripod.com/TarotMajors.html">
 Tarot Majors Page.

The original is up for auction on eBay now, and will end July 17. As some of you know I have used various cats that have been my companions over the years as models for some of these Tarot characters, and for this one I used Kitty Boy, the first cat I ever had back when I was a kid. This cat always meant a great deal to me, and this card is a fitting tribute to him.  I plan on using Kali, the very old cat that I have here with me now, as the Queen of Swords - she'll be perfect for that one! I have one more card to go in the Majors for the Cats deck ("The World"). When I have it and the 2 remaining Bellydancer cards done (I am working on the Bellydancer Judgement now), I am going to be doing some revamping of the website here: it's about time for some new graphics, etc., for one thing! And I will be setting up the selling points I've mentioned before for the Major Arcana sets. Prints of individual cards will still be available through my eBay store.

There isn't much new to say concerning my health at this time! I am undergoing daily radiation treatments for the spot of cancer on my spine, and those continue through July 18. I have chemo once a week thru the first week in August. After that I don't know: they'll do more tests and decide where I'm at then! In the meantime I am just continuing merrily on with my artwork: Besides the Tarot cards, I am working on completing the 'Zodiac cats' ACEO series, and am also redesigning my personal logo to include a Pelican! So - that's all for this time - my sincere thanks to everyone who visits here! 

My newest Tarot Card is up on my website: the Bellydance Tarot Sun. See and read about it on the
HREF="http://LunaRivera.tripod.com/TarotMajors.html">
 Tarot Majors Page.

The original is already up for auction on eBay, and will end Thursday evening, June 28. I am feeling pretty good and making art right along steady now, also walking, doing yoga, and I have started mountain biking again. This is probably odd to some of you in light of my new cancer diagnosis that I wrote about last week. But what has happened is; while yes, I still have cancer, what it is down to now is a couple small spots that hardly cause any symptoms and we are right on top of this: I am on a new gentle chemotherapy now called topoteecan (Hycamtin), and next week I begin a 2-week course of radiation. I basically have 2 small spots of cancer that are new metastases: one on the L2 vertebra of my spine, and one on the plueral lining of my right lung. The radiation is going to be tightly targeted on the spinal spot, and it looks good that they can kill that one off. The chemo is to enhance the radiation effect and to knock out the lung spot. What scares everybody else quite a bit more than it does me is that now I do have a new diagnosis of 'incurable cancer'. It is called 'Metatastic Ovarian Cancer', and I will probably always get new spots in new places from time to time. I will be closely monitored and treated as needed. With this regimen the doctors tell me I can live for years and years, and of course with all the advances coming out in cancer treatment who knows when something new will come down the pike that will cure me? Could be anytime! This is a diagnosis I can live with, literally, and I wish that many of you wouldn't be as upset about it as you seem to be!

Am I disappointed that I cannot take up the new career path I had planned on? Certainly I am, and yet I see a blessing here too - I am an artist, and I always carry that with me. I have that for my life. Perhaps I took a wrong turning with the earlier plans I made. I intend to help animals, and I intend to make my way to the shore and help the pelicans, and live close to or among them if I can. But I can use my art as a vehicle to make these things happen - aren't I lucky that I have this second route I can take to reach my goals! I feel very lucky indeed, and my art has had a whole new lease-on-life now.

I have already mentioned that I will be working somewhat differently than I have in the past and that's true. You won't see so many small things from me. I won't make many more ACEOs, although I will finish the 'Zodiac Cats' series in that size. I will be finishing my Cat Tarot in the ATC (3"x4.5") size. I have 2 more Majors (Judgement and The World) left in that and then will begin on the Cat Minors straight away. I also have the same 2 Majors to finish in the Bellydance Tarot, and then I will put that aside: it has not generated the interest the Cats deck has, and so it will exist as a Majors set only. Once these Majors sets are complete, I will have a selling point set up here on the website where you can buy complete sets of either the Cat or Dancer Majors.  I'll only be offering the individual prints in my eBay store. Since my time will be freed up by doing only one set of Minors (the Cats), I will begin doing some larger paintings on canvas that I think you'll like to see: Egyptian themes, Goddesses, Dream-Inspired stuff. This is what I've missed doing for a long time now and I look forward to doing that kind of work again.

So - this is where I'm at right now. I honestly feel pretty well and excited about my life. I've always preferred looking forward to back, so onward I go...

Today I have up on my website my newest Tarot Card: the Cat Tarot Sun. See and read about it on the
HREF="http://LunaRivera.tripod.com/TarotMajors.html">
 Tarot Majors Page.

The original will go up for auction on eBay Monday June 11th, and will end Monday evening, June 18. I promise not to take so long between cards in the future (At least I intend not to!)! I had just got to the point with the fatigue from my chemo that I could barely work! I had the last treatment May 23, and am finally starting to 'wake up' a bit now! I have had a number of tests now that chemo has ended: CAT scans, more blood work, etc., and unfortunately I have mixed news regarding my cancer! While my CA125 (Ovarian Cancer marker) numbers remain low, the CAT scan shows that unfortunately I have a small new spot of cancer! A new metastasis, and unfortunately in a bad place: on the lumbar region of my spine. I do not know the complete prognosis for this yet, and won't until I see the doctor on Wed. June 13. However I have already been scheduled to begin radiation treatment for this spot beginning next week!

I don't know quite what to say or to think about all this - it definitely throws a monkey wrench into all my plans! The doctor has told me over the phone that I may have to go back on chemotherapy for a while too! I was so tired from chemo that I hope hope hope this is not the case: I slept so much in the last stages of it that I felt I barely had a life! Guess this is better than no life at all anyway? What I really am afraid of is that now I won't be able to attend school as I had intended to: or at least not begin my training as soon as I had hoped. I do understand that the metastasis in the bone is a bad thing: often considered 'incurable'. In that case I may never be able to go to school or work helping animals as I had hoped to. HOWEVER - I am very far from dead - and I will find a way to help animals one way or the other! And of course I have my art - that is one thing about being an artist: you always have that and carry it with you, no matter what else happens to you. If nothing else then perhaps I can raise money with my art and make donations to animal causes, and perhaps volunteer with organizations that help animals. I will help the pelicans (especially them, and other animals as well) somehow.

Oddly enough I am beginning, now that I am getting further from chemo, to feel pretty good! I've begun jogging again. Am doing more yoga, and intend to do 108 Salutations to the Sun on September 21 as my part in the Global Mala. And I am making art: have begun on the Bellydance Sun card and will be presenting it soon. Well - this is how life is - and I intend to make the best of whatever it gives me! Until next time...

Today I have a new Tarot Card: the Bellydance Tarot Moon. See and read about it on the
HREF="http://LunaRivera.tripod.com/TarotMajors.html">
 Tarot Majors Page of my website.

It will be going up for auction on eBay tomorrow (Saturday, April 28), and will end Saturday, May 5. Sorry to have taken so long to get this one out to you! I am really feeling the effects of the end stage of my chemo treatments: daily fatigue that I sometimes can't shake for more than an hour or so (Seriously: there have been days when I've slept 23 hours! I get up, feed Kali-Cat, and fall back into bed!). But the glorious end is in sight: May 23 is my last treatment, and then I can begin to recover! Now I can tell you about my exciting news. I have enrolled at a technical school to take courses and become certified in Veterinary Technology! This is something I have wanted to do all my life: the only other thing I ever wanted to do besides make art. And I never in the past could decide between them. When I was a kid I told everybody I was going to be an animal nurse or animal doctor someday, but when it came to choosing an educational path I thought myself too sensitive and squeamish for the animal work and chose an art education instead. Now - don't get me wrong, I don't regret my art education, or the years I've spent striving in the arts, at all. I will always define myself as an artist (along with animal lover, environmentalist and mystic), and I will always make art. I can't not make art: it's in my blood. But I have recently experienced a true rebirth, this coming-thru and out of cancer (I am now officially in remission), and I find that I must re-evaluate my life in terms of that. My entire life changed; my old life was left behind, and that is significant. Not many people get a chance for a whole second life. I look back and admit I struggled much in the arts; and much of that was not pleasing - it did not realize the dreams I had for my art. There is much art to this day that lies in my mind that I have not done despite years of intent, because I churned away on the treadmill of the politics and directives of the art market. Of all that I have done over the years, it's just the few dream-inspired pieces I've managed to carve out the time to make, such as my beloved "Little Opal" (the image above my 'Catalog' link on my website), and lately my Cat Tarot artwork, that have been artworks I've truly felt passionate about doing. I realize I can change that. If I do not succumb to the struggles of the art marketplace I can simply do, for the joy of doing, the pieces I want to do, while pursuing a right livelihood of helping our fellow creatures: a livelihood I have always longed for but lacked the courage to take up. It is time to take up that path now, to explore the fork in the road not taken in the past life.

You may always look for new art from me on my website. As I've said on numerous occasions previously, I fully intend to complete the Cat Tarot. Once the chemo is over I can move back up to the speed of one card a week again. And I will finally do those dream-inspired pieces I've wanted to do, and put them up here, with their stories, for your consideration. I begin my Vet Tech training, a nine-month intensive course, on July 23. My ultimate goal is to work not only with companion animals but with wildlife, and I hope to one day fulfill the vision I had after my surgery, when the Pelicans came to me and told me I would live, and I told them I would help them live in return - I intend to return to California and work with shorebirds, these wonderful beings of the air who are everyday under assault from oil spills, careless fishermen, and other hazards of 21st century life on the margin between land and sea.   

I hope the above doesn't disappoint too many of you too much! I am a dreamer and I am following my greatest dream now. I don't expect it to be easy: I do expect it to be rewarding. And my art is freed because of it. ... As always, my unending gratitude goes out to those of you who have been so generous in your well-wishes!

I have just completed the Cat Tarot Moon card. See and read about it on the
HREF="http://LunaRivera.tripod.com/TarotMajors.html">
 Tarot Majors Page.

The original is up for auction on eBay: it will end the evening of Wednesday, April 18. The Moon is my favorite among the Majors, and I hope my image reflects my enthusiasm for for the energy of the card, which for me is a card of mystery, imagination, and feminine watery yin energy. I love the idea of 'Sustaining the Mystery' and this card offers a view into what that is like.

I had chemo earlier today, and there is good news: my markers remain in the cancer-free level, and my blood cell counts, both white and red, are in the normal range. My chemo will be ending for sure on May 23, something else I'm very happy for. Now at the end part of the chemo cycle, I am again dealing with a lot of fatigue (pretty much daily now)which happens as a result of the chemo accumulating in the body - so of course I'm glad the end is in sight! Then I can begin to recover - knowing it will take a while - a month to 6 weeks at a minimum if I'm very lucky; and begin to explore new directions in my life that I'm excited about. So - that's all for today - THANKS to all who stop by and read this, and enjoy my artwork.

Today I have for you the brand-new Cat Tarot Star card. See and read about it on the
HREF="http://LunaRivera.tripod.com/TarotMajors.html">
 Tarot Majors Page.

 It is up for auction on eBay and ends next Wednesday, March 28. This card was a Joy to do, as it represents healing and hope. I myself AM healing: my cancer markers are down to 8, and the doctors say that actually I shouldn't expect them to go any lower, as this is well within the 'normal', cancer-free range!. I won't know for sure what that status is though until I get another CAT scan, which won't be done until my chemo is over at the end of May. I am having a little trouble with pain from internal scarring, due to my hysterectomy and bowel resection. Still, this is a small price to pay for my healing. I am getting stronger every day, walking a mile plus daily and doing art, yoga and a lot of reading too. I am enjoying living up here at Rancho Robles in Oracle, among the oaks and wild creatures (No I don't mean the other tenants, ha!) - I hope to live here as long as I remain in the state of Arizona. As many of you know I plan to someday move back to California so I can be near the ocean.

You must forgive me for not working on art as fast as I used to - however I have to say that I was really caught up in a 'rat race' with it in the past. Don't know if I've alluded to it here yet or not but I have a plan for the future which involves a change in direction, but will allow me to do the artwork I really truly feel passionate about, such as my dream-inspired pieces, which I haven't been able to work on much for years despite every good intention! Of course I will, as said, complete my Cat Tarot: it is one of the things I do feel passionate about. More on my plans soon...

As always, my unending gratitude goes out to those of you who have been so generous in your well-wishes!

Today I have for you the brand-new Bellydance Tarot Tower card. See and read about it on the
HREF="http://LunaRivera.tripod.com/TarotMajors.html">
 Tarot Majors Page.

 It is up for auction on eBay and ends next Tuesday, March 20. Up next is the Cat Tarot Star card, however I cannot begin it until Thursday: I have a doctor visit AND chemo tomorrow and the process takes all day. This one is the 'double dose' chemo and it makes me feel pretty badly for a few days afterward but I should be able to do a little art at least - however I am not going to make any promises as to an exact finish time! I'm learning not to do that! I do wish I could work a bit more than I am: I have to say I am getting somewhat impatient with chemo as it takes whole chunks of time out of one's life! Still: it is healing me and I am greatful for that. I won't know what my markers are though until I talk to the doctor tomorrow.

I want to wish my best and dearest friend Betsy Stevenson a very joyous 50th birthday today! The enduring friendship of Betsy and her family means more than I can put into words: you are all truly spiritual kin. Many Happy Returns of the Day and may you live another 50 at least in peace and joy, Betsy!