The Flame Leads the Way

Today a new friend of mine gave me a mediumistic reading, and afterwards he began to ask me about my Tarot paintings. He's a Tarot reader and offered me very specific feedback that changed my perspective about my own paintings! The reading he gave me beforehand was all about taking something and turning it slightly to completely change the perspective of it, so this talk about my paintings was just in line with the reading and was a great eye-opener! One of the things he was curious about was my use of the colors orange and red. At the time, I explained to him that orange, for me, is the color of self-empowerment and resides in our inner-experience, or can be found within, while red (representing many actions and emotions) was the expression of outward power, or the motion of inward power outward to its interaction with the world outside of self. All day I've been preparing Ephel Duath packages to send out and have let my mind open to the idea of perspective. As I took a break and walked to get dinner, I began talking with one of my Spirit Guides and we continued this discussion about perspective. She showed me the image of a flame and I instantly got the message: the flame is a representation of the path of our energy, or inner-knowing to its experience out in the world..in other words, it is the example of what happens when we let the universe and knowing and journey within travel outside ourselves to interact with others: it is light from the darkness, it lights the way and attracts others looking for the same experience. Candles, further, are lit in places of dark, darkness, and shadows. An absence of light, darkness is connected to the idea of secrets, the unknown, the occult, what is hidden. We think of finding the truth in that darkness: we meditate there, we have Spirit Circles in darkened rooms, we feel we are finding secrets in a darkened library, we hold our rituals in darkened rooms, we look for ghosts in shadowy buildings, we seek treasures in forgotten antique shops on side streets, and we tip toe into the unbeaten path, and we instinctively feel that old, dusty books containing information from our ancestors hold keys to finding the deeper truth about our present. Again, like the black holes in our universe, from that darkness comes the light; the knowing and the awakening, and our understanding of this is literally "brought to light" out in the world, where we experience ourselves and see ourselves reflected in others. At the center of a lit candle is a magnesium blue (Spirit), then yellow flame (intellect, knowing, inner-communication), glowing outward from this orange (self-power), then a red halo that connects to the space around this flame (outward projection of power and the interaction of what's within). I unknowingly used this idea in several of my tarot paintings: With "The Emperor" I wanted to convey the youthful idea of expanding empowerment that, especially for others, finds itself out in the world leading and inspiring. The orange and red here convey a sense of relaxed confidence and trust in personal power. With "The Fool" I painted the body in yellow ochre tones with orange and red outlines (as his body meets with the atmosphere), and his triangle of manifestation is orange "Strength" uses red to depict the struggle for balance within oneself in attempt to portray a united personality out in the world And in "Calling in the Four Quarters", rather than typical violet or green energy coming from the Healer's hands, I rather chose the color of clairvoyance, inner-knowing, intellect and communication to be the energy she's sending out into the world around her, where she's surrounded by her own self-empowerment which is changing the shape of the space around her.

EPHEL DUATH UPDATES!!

So much exciting news for EPHEL DUATH. For anyone just catching up with my projects, I've joined my husband's (Davide Tiso) band: Ephel Duath as vocalist. While ED has a history of albums and touring, we recently recorded our first EP together, "On Death and Cosmos", and it's on pre-order sale right now through Agonia Records. The rhythm section for ED is also something to talk about: Marco Minnemann on drums and Steve Di Giorgio on bass. Can't get better than that!! There are several awesome special-priced package deals, including one direct from the band, and the first pressings are almost sold out as of today, and the EP hasn't even been released yet! Thanks to everyone who made this happen, it's so very exciting. Davide is already well into writing and working on pre-production for the full length album. For all the udpates about EPHEL DUATH, keep an eye on our official Facebook page here: EPHEL DUATH OFFICAL FACEBOOK FIRST PACKAGE DIRECT FROM BAND: -"ON DEATH AND COSMOS" EXCLUSIVE PACKAGE DEAL- Limited edition of 66 hand numbered copies of a Karyn Crisis shining skull giclee print in a black mat + "On Death and Cosmos" digipack EP + autographed photo, ALL SHIPPED DIRECTLY FROM THE BAND. Customers number 6 and 66 will have a special bonus item included in the deal! Package deal's price is $39 for US and $44 everywhere else, includes shipping. To order send your payment to Karyn's paypal address: kcrisisleather@yahoo.com, upon receipt of payment we will send you an email confirmation. All orders will be shipped within 3 days. PACKAGES FROM AGONIA RECORDS: Ephel Duath’s EP “On Death and Cosmos” is available to pre-order at a special discount price from now until 21st of June only. The EP is available in three different version: -Digipack EP -Limited 200 copies 10” Black Vinyl + e-card for digital download -Limited 100 copies 10” Red Vinyl with silver and white splatter + e-card for digital download All orders placed while the pre-order lasts will be shipped prior the release date (North American orders included). HERE ARE SOME LINKS: RED SPLATTER VINYL, DIGIPAK EP, BLACK VINYL, T SHIRT

Out In

San Francisco is a strange city, and one of its wonderful secrets is that is has so many nooks and crannies of unexpected nature and very different neighborhoods. Not a far walk from my apartment is a favorite patch of forest of mine. On the way to a small grove of redwood trees where I partake in ancient rituals involving ancestor path working is an enormous tree with sprawling roots. One of the roots has a flattened area, just room enough for one person to sit and feel embraced amongst its twisting branches. After listening to Davide record parts of a song for the forthcoming full-length Ephel Duath album, I felt I needed to get out into nature. I came here today to work on an interview for Ephel Duath.(published interview links can be found here Ephel Duath Official fb and here Karyn Crisis Official fb page. Thanks to all who've reviewed, spread the word, and posted links! This place is a special gift for being with Spirit in nature, and I always leave feeling recharged. Often I wish I could live inside this tree like Mr. Fox, even though Davide and I have brought alot of nature into our apartment. Ahhh. Back to work!

The Shining

Recently, I had the pleasure of designing a Tshirt for my band, Ephel Duath. At first, this was a challenge. I don't consider myself great at designing logos or tshirt designs. But Davide encouraged me to go for it, so I did. I made a triangle stamp and used it to create a skull, playing with the idea of transformation in a skull; bones being something that lasts long after our spirit departs our physical body, and it remains as a symbol of eternal life as well as a literal body of dna; something that is a record-keeper of our experiences and ancestry...and the triangle being a symbol of transformation and manifestation.The tshirt was a collaboration with graphic designer Dehn Sora who added the letters and text. The shirt is special issue, limited to 100 pieces and can be ordered here:EPHEL DUATH LTD ED TSHIRT Drawing this tshirt design inspired me so much that I continued to draw and came up with a book full of tattoo designs based on line drawings. I felt compelled also to create some small works to sell: a series I call my Shining Skulls. "Shining" as a reference to clairvoyance. These drawings will be for sale in my etsy shop,here:SECRET ARTS And...I have more in the works....