Mystical Penguin Tarot

Now available in the Dawnarts Shop!

The Mystical Penguin Tarot is a deck of 79 cards featuring the 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana of traditional Tarot decks, plus an additional Major Arcana card. The deck is inspired by the classic Rider/Waite/Smith (RWS) imagery, but illustrated with whimsical penguins! The illustrations are velvety and lush, crafted with colorful mixed media in Dawn Evans Scaltreto’s signature style. This is a unique deck for Tarot lovers and collectors and will be a highlight of your collection.

Birth of an Idea 

The inspiration for the Mystical Penguin Tarot comes from Dawn’s work with children. Her Friday after-school cartooning class of 1st through 5th graders was enchanted with trading cards that the older kids played with and collected, especially Pokémon. Dawn created a blank card template for the students to craft their own trading cards. One little girl asked, “How do I make this?” Dawn was happy to demonstrate. She drew a whimsical penguin in the art section of the card, depicting a scene from the RWS Tarot, The Fool. She wrote, “Innocence, new beginnings, new ideas and directions,” in the part of the card for text, which are some basic meanings for the card. The children loved it, and Dawn drew more cards, starting with those of the Major Arcana. 

Artists, musicians, writers and creative  people are familiar with “The Zone,” a deeply creative state of mind where inspiration flows. Dawn feels this mental state comes from Spirit, and does her best creative work in that emotional space. Quite outside of her intention, Spirit overtook her creative self and drove her to illustrate more and more of the cards, an artful obsession that lasted long beyond the after-school class. By the end of the weekend, all of the Major Arcana had been rendered, and within a week, the full deck had taken shape.  She turned the pencil rough concept drawings into pen & ink, then added color to the cards in crayon.  Anyone who saw the cards was instantly engaged. “Are you making a real deck with these? Where can I get one?” they asked.

If people liked Tarot, they loved the cards. If they liked penguins, they loved the cards. If they loved art, whimsical things, colorful creativity, they loved the cards. With Spirit in the driver’s seat, the creation of the cards was almost effortless, and they struck a chord with everyone who saw them. Dawn began to reformat the art in a standard Tarot card format, twice the size of the 120 mm x 70 mm format of standard cards for the best print resolution, and began to create the final art for them.

Creating the Artwork

The progress was slow, each card taking at least 10 hours to illustrate. With her freelance jobs and full teaching schedule, it was likely to take years to illustrate all 78 cards, even with Spirit cheering her on. Then COVID-19 came along, throwing everyone for a loop. Every class Dawn was teaching was suddenly cancelled. Most of her freelance pediatric art and illustration jobs were placed on hold with the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.

When life gives you lemons, right? Dawn set right to work, creating each card with divine inspiration driving the process. Vibrant colors infused each card, nuances and meanings conveyed to the artist while she was engaged in the creative Zone by the Spirit. “Although I have felt that divine Spirit at work with me in other creative projects, never have I felt it so clearly, and so instantly engaging than when I was at work creating these cards,” Dawn says.  “I truly feel that these cards are meant to be, and I became the creative instrument of spiritual forces that deeply wanted this project to come to life.”

Launching the Project

Dawn carefully selected quality card stock, special packaging, and a trusted international printer, and lovingly managed each aspect of getting the cards and all supporting products created. She chose Kickstarter as the platform for funding the project, confident that their trusted brand, easy-to-use interface and sleek presentation offered the best chance for a successful campaign. The project succeeded, raising over $20,000 with over 250 backers bringing the exciting project to life.

The cards were printed on 350 GSM silk-matte, fine card stock and presented in a sturdy, soft touch, story-book box with a magnetic closure.  The cards come in a choice of shimmering Rose Gold Metallic Edging, or a regal Royal Blue Matte Edging option.

Each deck has a 100 page, perfect-bound book that has definitions for each card and includes spreads and how to enjoy your deck.  You will learn how to draw a daily card or spread to help navigate your day and open your intuition and awareness of the world unfolding around you. The definitions are based on traditional meanings for standard tarot cards, but also informed by Spirit during the creation of each artwork as nuanced meanings specific to this deck and artworks. Each definition includes a companion song that may help individuals who use all their senses recall nuances and meanings associated with that card. Decks also include a card with a “Quick Reference Guide” that will help with readings.

Dawn felt that one card in the Major Arcana, “V - The Hierophant”, did not accurately convey a globally inclusive representation of the spiritual meanings associated with that card. She created “V - Faith” to broaden the definitions and be more inclusive of persons of all faiths and religions.

Original paintings are available for sale, and for supporters who would still like beautiful artwork but may not be able to collect the rare original pieces, quality giclée art prints, double matted, numbered and signed with a Certificate of Authenticity will be available of all 79 illustrations. Each artwork or art print will also include a printed definition of that particular card.

The deck is the product of hundreds of hours of hard work and creativity, inspired by divine Spirit, a loving and significant life project by the artist. Thanks for your interest and support.

Dawn Evans Scaltreto

Now in Production, The Mystical Penguin Oracle Deck and the Mystical Penguin Tarot Coloring Book coming soon to DawnArts.

Please enjoy this promotional video used in the Kickstarter Campaign that illustrated all of the cards of the Mystical Penguin Tarot: Mystical Penguin Tarot Promo Video