In one of those fortunate accidents, I recently stumbled over a misplaced USB Memory Drive from 10 years ago, discarded like just another pebble gathered during years of exploration and travel. But like the rock that the builders rejected which became the chief cornerstone, I found considerable treasure embedded on the drive. Among other older projects thereon, it contained original scans of 72 artworks that I did in 2014-15, at the weekly Santa Barbara Arts & Craft Show, along beachside Cabrillo Boulevard, which I thought to be forever lost. Many of the digital files were damaged due to the memory drive’s decay but I was able to rescue at least 1 good version of each of the 72 pieces from this particular series. And because of this find, I am able to remaster the series and eventually, perhaps, produce another deck of art cards, in addition to the Royal Road, for meditation and games, known as “Star Rock Elements.” Stay tuned.

Upon reviewing the scans of these works, I recalled that this project containing 4 elemental suits of 18 pieces (Fire/Air/Earth/Water) each, making 72 total, emerged from a rigorous schedule of execution, beginning in January of 2014, and proceeding 1 per week through the middle of 2015. Despite difficult economic circumstances and general concerns of being “on the road” for a prolonged period, far from my native region, I was determined to complete the project, no matter what. Many of the works were done on the beach, or on mountaintops, or from a cramped camper in transit, open public space in historic buildings, or even in a variety of libraries and cabins.

Each week a new piece appeared for sale at a live booth on the beaches of Santa Barbara. They were quite popular and I sold many, and also gave many away to friends who expressed interest in the series. The general method of execution involved drawing the sign of the cross as a marked bisection on paper, adding a circle with a compass, as if the whole thing was a target seen through a scope. And then each scene that developed was based on a meditation from the relevant text, followed by complete freehand sketching and coloring. Each idea emerged organically and in a totally original manner. The idea was to create a sense of 2 worlds, an outside framing area with key symbols, and then a viewing through a type of eyehole, to another world of dramatic action, where the symbols formed a character or scene with relevant themes.

By the Spring of 2014, I was encouraged by peers, to run for the screening committee of the Santa Barbara Arts & Crafts Show, which featured on its board, an active elected representative member from the show, who would then assist in handling various issues related to the show’s governance, like identifying whether new arts & crafts were authentic and hand-crafted, and deliberating on a variety of interrelated matters. I did run and was elected over another candidate to serve for the next year.

Even after I had to leave the art show and committee, later in 2014, due to a different job opportunity that I had to act quickly upon to secure, I continued producing 1 piece a week until I reached a plateau and felt the work to be complete by the following year.

I had largely put this project behind me, as other jobs came and went (like running an improv rodeo on a horse ranch(!)), and I was forced to migrate back to the South during the Covid lockdowns. But the recent discovery of the lost USB drive caused me to reexamine the files and to think again on many of the original themes that had germinated with that project. Then I remembered how the experience of this particular project was seminal in forging my own artistic style and many of my convictions about art as a distinctly important discipline, especially relevant to now, in an era of emerging AI displacement of several sectors formerly driven purely by human creativity. What is the niche for the human creator when AI image generation tools seem to surpass us on so many fronts?

Initially, I had dubbed this project the “Star Rock Matrix,” and the first stage of the project completed in 2013 became the 1st draft for the Royal Road series, featured in this journal over the past 2 years. This was the final work from the first stage of the project, at that show. These pieces were much smaller.

But there was a 2nd part to the original project that was totally different, and which I identified at the time, as a sort of “Minor Arcana,” beginning with the new year in 2014. This part was based on a completely different reference text and theory of correspondences, a PhD thesis that was eventually published in the early 1970s as “Astrology: The Divine Science,” by Marcia Moore. The general idea was that what is called “astrology” is not so much a method of divination or fortune telling as it is a highly complex index of human personalities based on intuitive combinations of an ancient symbol system that understood planetary, zodiacal, and elemental features comprising a multi-faceted conception of human character.

By 2014, I had worked out the kinks from the initial 6 month period of being in the show. Having a booth exposed to the public had been a type of gauntlet that I passed through and developed a much more refined vision, after getting critical feedback from people walking by and examining my work. This was an important initial process where I was also experimenting with different media, ie paper type, color, pastels dry vs wet, and a variety of colored pencils. Eventually, the works converged into a solid consistency with the significantly larger size of 12” x 18” black paper, using prismacolor pencils and dry chalk pastels for color.

Another interesting facet of the project is that the physical works were not the end product. What I was interested in really, was the neon light quality that could be obtained by scanning the works digitally, and playing with the high contrasts possible with the black paper and the bright pastel/pencil colors. So, the real finished product is only now being fully realized since I did not have access to adequate computer tools then. The works were meant to be printed as cards for meditation or a series of gin rummy or bridge type games, where tricks are taken from a variety of suits.

Finally, I will just say, that it has occurred to me that the 2 primary art card projects featured here at the Royal Road, pertain directly to the idea of a precious stone or rock. The final work of the Royal Road culminates in the discovery of a gigantic diamond in work #24. And “Star Rock Elements” asserts that the many varieties of human personality can be likened to the constituent elements of actual “star rocks” in the cosmos. This is an underlying recurrent theme that is related to deeper Grail/Philosopher Stone alchemical studies and the idea that there is a correspondence between a valuable gemstone or a star fallen from heaven, and the idea of the Self, as a harmonious whole, containing a mysterious spark of life. One way to view the idea of the Self is through the development of a personal style that is as unique as a fingerprint. Art is a distinct way to view that process. And the maintenance of an original human style is an antidote to the encroachment of generative AI in this machine age.