Interview with Kathy Crabbe, Creator of the Lefty Oracle Deck

Herbal Magazine Interview

This interview was absolutely wonderful. I was able to sit in Mom’s kitchen on a warm sunny day and have a blast talking to Kathy about pretty much everything. As a natural lefty I find that my handwriting and drawing is already well, unique let’s say. I usually find myself cursing my hand or asking others if they can read my southpaw. Listening to Kathy discuss her lefty work, however, has given me more respect for my own appendages and makes me appreciate the work that I am able to accomplish with my seemingly wrong hand. Kathy has a wonderful way of seeing the possibilities as a whole and can create beautiful work based on nature and myth that is somehow playful and powerful all at once.

How did you find confidence in your lefty artwork? Did you feel frustration when you started?

Kathy Crabbe began using her non-dominant hand almost twenty years ago when she felt artistically blocked. She had no idea it would have such a profound impact on her artwork but was thrilled to see the results. In the interview Kathy explained it helped her “slow down” and truly appreciate the creative process. She went on to explain that later on she learned that this is an art therapy technique called bi-lateral hand drawing that helps people slow down, calm themselves, and feel grounded.  Slowing down is a major challenge for this jump-on-in Aries Rising, but she found that by slowing down it, “helped balance everything out a little bit.”

Based upon Kathy’s experience using her left hand she was able to make an entire oracle deck based on her lefty characters that help people become more intuitive and work through issues. She says the most difficult part is actually printing with her left hand, but cannot deny the fact that this deck has helped others and herself.

How have you changed as an artist over the 16 years you’ve been drawing with your left hand?

Kathy’s intuition has improved while working with her left hand and it has helped develop the non-dominant side of her brain. Kathy was also amazed by how well her soul readings developed after using her left hand. Before 2007 she had not done readings professionally. When she began working with her left hand she was able to build confidence to work on readings all over the world. While she does enjoy working with people in person Kathy began offering soul readings on Etsy and actually prefers remote reading because there is no other outside influence other than “just about the questions” received from clients.

Do you every go back to your dominant hand (for personal work or other reasons)?

Kathy always uses her dominant hand when doing more practical stuff (bills, errands, etc.) and for writing her soul readings which flow quickly. At the moment Kathy is focusing on Project 52 for the Riverside Art Museum which will culminate in a mini exhibitof all 52 originals from her lefty oracle deck.

How do you feel creating the oracle art and writing has helped you progress in your artistic dreams and/or aspirations?

“It’s helped me be brave and get into all kinds of adventures.”

One example that displays Kathy’s bravery is when Kathy broughtlife-sized leftys to Hollywood for Women’s Day with activist and singer Michelle Shocked (her personal hero). Since then Kathy has started a writer’s group and zines with her lefty characters. With these characters Kathy has even made performance art and has created a community.

These lefty characters have “pushed me to try something new,” Kathy said.  She continues to work with her lefty art to make it more interactive and well, fun!

Does the landscape around you inspire you? If so, how?

Kathy keeps grounded and attuned with nature enhanced by her studies and training in Celtic Faerie Shamanism with mentor Francesca De Grandis. Kathy believes everything is grounded in nature and this has been a constant muse for every theme in her artwork as well as her intuitive work.

Kathy lives in sunny southern California secluded off a dirt road surrounded by the beauty of nature. She is still focusing on her oracle or lefty art and loves working with groups using her lefty deck. If you would like to contact Kathy for a soul reading or her artwork here is her link: http://www.kathycrabbe.com/

As Kathy says, Sparkly Blessings!

Artists Around the World Blog-Hop

I am honoured to participate in this blog hop featuring artists around the world. I was invited by talented artist and intuitive reader Adrienne Vita along with the illustrator Marta Berk to participate. Why do I create what I do?

I never know exactly what it is I'm about to create next actually. I let spirit guide me and am often surprised by what comes out, but this is all part of the creative process, non? I do know that whatever I create is exactly what i need at that moment to grow my creative soul.

How does my creative process work?

My creative work anchors me to the Divine and is often exactly what i need to help guide me along my path emotionally and intuitively.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Which work? I have so many different styles: cartooney...abstract...detailed realism...whimsical children's book illustration style...etc.

What am I presently working on?

Currently I'm developing a new class called "Awaken Your Creative Soul"; a creative, spiritual class where students create affirmation cards using their non dominant hand along with moon collages! I find that developing a class and teaching is an incredibly rich and satisfying experience creatively. I also continue to create more 'lefty' drawings combined with collaged words/phrases that may end up being published in upcoming Creative Soul decks that I hope to put out every year. I also channel healing songs, affirmations and Creative Soul Challenges and Body Movement exercises every New and Full Moon to accompany a Creative Soul Card chosen specifically for that Moon and shared with my class.

Who inspires me to create?

The Divine spark within. Two blogs or artists that inspire me:

Francesco Clemente: Inspired by India ~ his latest exhibit at the Rubin Museum.

An inspiring quote:

When in doubt, twirl!" (by modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn).

Up next

I recently discovered the beautiful green goddess inspired photography and jewelry of Astara Lak'ech and would like to invite everyone to hop on over to Astara's Sacred Spirit of Gaia blog as we continue on with the worldwide artist blog-hop ~ enjoy and please support artists everywhere!

I'm published in the Creative Cronies Moon Diary!

The delightful Creative Cronies Moon Calender & Diary which is published by three female New Zealand astrologers is publishing one of my Creative Soul Guide 'moon mama' paintings in their yearly Diary - woohoo!

CreativeSoulGuides.com

ABOUT KATHY CRABBE

I am a self taught intuitive artist currently living and working in the desert valley of Southern California surrounded by ancient oaks and an elfin forest. I live in a home created by my husband that we share with our cat and dog, Abby and Spartacus. Gnomes, aliens and fairies have also been spotted here. I’ve been drawing since age two and giving intuitive soul readings since age forty.  

Kathy's art and guidance radiates healing energy that connects us with our soul’s essence; like meditation it guides us toward the infinite source of love and wisdom that we each hold within.

My Mermaids are Published in Fairies & Angels Magazine

Fairies and Angels Magazine has just published some of my Mermaid paintings so I'd like to tell you a bit more about them. The Mermaid Series was originally painted on pure white silk. I was inspired by living in Laguna Beach, California for 8 years where I befriended a red-haired mermaid and a raven-haired mermaid. Painting on silk was a natural fit for this series because of the watery, delicious, flowing feel achieved by using silk dyes and gutta resist on silk.

Purchase Mermaid Art

Boxed Cards are $25

Mermaid Prints are $14.95

About Kathy Crabbe Kathy Crabbe is an internationally recognized artist and Creative Soul Guide. Kathy’s work explores universal and timeless themes such as spirituality, healing, humor and love.

Kathy’s art and readings radiate healing energy that connects us with our soul’s essence; like meditation it guides us toward the infinite source of love and wisdom that we each hold within.

Kathy's Artistic & Intuitive Background

Intuitive Background

Since 2008 Kathy has given over 1000 Creative Soul Readings. She developed an eClass "Awaken Your Divine Feminine Soul" for Susun Weed's Wise Woman University which quickly became the most popular class of the year. Currently Kathy is facilitating Moon Circles and Creative Soul Classes all over Southern California which combine creativity and spirituality within a shamanic circle.

Kathy received intuitive training from English psychic and channel, Adam Higgs and spiritual training from meditation teacher Om (devotee of Sri Chinmoy). She studied yoga with Atma Khalsa and Amanollah Ghahraman, herbalism with Susun Weed (Green Witch Intensive) and Therapeutic Touch with Joyce Fournier, RN. Kathy received certification in crystal healing from Katrina Raphaell’s Crystal Academy and has studied astrology with Steven Forrest, Patty Davidson, Laura DesJardins and Jeffrey Wolf Green. Currently Kathy is studying Celtic Faerie Shamanism with Francesca De Grandis, author of Be A Goddess.

Detail of my Painting by Kathy CRabbe

Artistic Background

Born 1965 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Kathy Crabbe lives and works in Southern California. Kathy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Queen’s University and a Graphic Design Diploma from St. Lawrence College. She has been working as a professional artist since 1992.

Kathy has exhibited her work at numerous galleries, public spaces, and museums including the San Diego Women’s History Museum, Orange County Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art and Art for the Soul. Her work has been featured in private and public collections including the UCLA Arts Library and the Carnegie Library. She has worked as an educator and mentor for Laguna Outreach Community Artists, the Sawdust Art Festival, HGTV, Wise Woman University and Michelle Shocked’s International Women’s Day Show in Hollywood.

Kathy’s work has appeared in various books and magazines including Kiss Machine, Broken Pencil and the We’Moon Datebook. She has self-published books, zines, oracle cards, a blog and e-course; The Zodiac Goddess Playbook, Creative Soul Cards, Awaken Your Divine Feminine Soul eClass, and the Creative Soul Blog. Kathy has exhibited her work at select art fairs including the Abbott Kinney Art Festival, New York Stationary Show, Sawdust Art Festival and the Santa Monica Contemporary Crafts Market. Her work has been licensed as greeting cards, fabric blocks, handbags and tattoos. Kathryn is a founding member of the The Temecula Writer’s Cafe and Riverside Art Museum Printmaker’s Network and currently volunteers at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony.

Kathy’s latest creative endeavour is a class she is teaching at Mt. San Jacinto College and various art and yoga studios around Southern California called Awaken Your Creative Soul which she developed after spending seven years drawing a Creative Soul ‘Lefty’ Deck using her non dominant left hand. This awakened Kathy’s creative soul in new ways and inspired her to help others awaken and pursue their dreams.

Crabbe’s paintings and prints are a journey into the forgotten parts of the self – those places, both emotional and physical, that are rejected, neglected, or under-valued in our corporatized and sanitized culture. These neglected places exude a dark kind of beauty and complexity as they form themselves in her work. This work is a foray into sweetness, light and danger all at once. It is deep intimacy – a deliberate mirror and an intent of reclamation. ~ Tangerine Bolen, Executive Director, Revolution Truth.

Artist Resume

Selected Exhibitions

2014 Featured Artist, Brushworks Studio, San Diego, California Featured Artist, Mystic Arts Gallery, Laguna Beach, California

2013 Animal Fairy Tales, Fables, Fact or Fiction, Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, California Small But Mighty Print Exhibition, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California

2012 PAAR Exhibition, Brandstater Gallery, La Sierra University, Riverside, California Members’ Exhibition, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California Divine Feminine Solo Exhibition, Sun City Library, Sun City, California Divine Feminine Solo Exhibition, San Marcos Library, San Marcos, California Art and Earth: My Art, My World, Murrieta Public Library, Murrieta, California The Art of the Avocado, Brandon Gallery, Fallbrook, California Verse to Image, Riverside Community Arts Association Gallery, Riverside, California Your Face Here: The Modern Self Portrait, San Jacinto College Art Gallery, San Jacinto, California Local Author Exhibit, San Diego Public Library, San Diego, California Riverside Arts Council Exhibit, Riverside, California PNET Members’ Print II Show, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California

2011 Off The Wall, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California PNET Members’ Print Show, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California Artscape, Riverside County Administrative Center, Riverside, California

2006 Making Zines=Making Herstory, Women’s History Museum and Educational Center, San Diego, California

2005 San Clemente Public Library, San Clemente, California

2004 Musician’s Workshop, Temecula, California Art of Zines, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California Dark Matter, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland

2003 Zine Scene, Orange County Museum of Art Satellite, Costa Mesa, California Borders Books, Chino, California Jojo Pinkie Gallery, Costa Mesa, California

Collections

Baltimore Museum of Art Archives, Baltimore, Maryland Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Che Café Collective Zine Library, La Jolla, California Columbia Teacher’s College Zine Library, New York, New York Olymbia Zine Library, Olympia, Washington Pacific Northwest College of Art Library, Portland, Oregon San Diego Public Library, Collections, San Diego, California San Diego State University Special Collections Library, San Diego, California San Jose Museum of Art, Anno Domini Art of Zines Library, San Jose, California Sheridan Zine Library, Welland, Ontario Solidarity! Revolutionary Center and Radical Library, Lawrence, Kansas UCLA Arts Library, Los Angeles, California 100 Sided Die Library, Montreal’s Mile End, Montréal, Québec

Published Work

Creative Cronies Moon Diary, published by Creative Cronies Moon Calendar Productions, 2015. (reproduction) Faeries and Angels Magazine, published by MagCloud Publishing, 2014. (reproductions) San Diego Poetry Annual, published by William Harry Harding, 2007, 2008. We’Moon Journal and Datebook, published by Mother Tongue Ink, 1993, 1995, 2005, 2008. 2014 (reproductions) Dawn, Orange County Arts, Cultures, and Innovations, published by The Dawn Foundation, Spring 2006. (reproduction) Lighthouse Wire Magazine, published by Queen’s University (Kingston, Canada), 2006. (reproduction) Altar Magazine, published independently, (Brooklyn, New York), Spring 2005, Issue 5, Winter 2006, Issue 6. (reproduction) Broken Pencil Magazine, published independently, (Toronto, Canada), 2006, Issue 32. (reproduction) Neighbors Newspaper, published independently, (Temecula, California), September 2006. (reproduction) The Spoon Magazine, published by University of Windsor, (Windsor, Canada), August 2006. (reproduction) Kiss Machine, published by Emily Pohl-Weary, (Toronto, Canada), Fall/Winter 2005, Issue 10, Fall/Winter 2005, Issue 11, Spring/Summer 2006, Issue 12, Spring/Summer 2007, Issue 13, Fall/Winter 2006, Issue 14, Fall/Winter 2007, Issue 15. (reproductions) Art Business News, published by Avanstar Communications, February 2003.

Reviews

Press-Enterprise, “Artist Spotlight”, published by Enterprise Media, (Temecula, California), May 8, 2012. Voyageur Magazine, published by St. Lawrence College, (Kingston, Canada), Spring 2009. The Valley News, (Temecula, California), February 23, 2007, Issue 8, Vol. 11. Broken Pencil Magazine, “Excerpts”, published independently, (Toronto, Canada), 2006, Issue 32. (reproduction) Zine World, “Zine Reviews”, published independently, (Murfreesboro, Tennessee), July 2006, Issue 23. Press-Enterprise, “Local, Townspeople: Over java, Temecula’s literati meet for inspiration”, published by Enterprise Media, (Temecula, California), April 18, 2006. Los Angeles Times Calendar, “Pop Music Review”, published by Los Angeles Times, March 13, 2003. Art Venues Magazine, “In the Spotlight,” (Capistrano Beach, California), 1997. (reproductions)

Speaking Engagements

2014 Toastmasters

2010 Feminine Mojo Radio Interview Wise Woman University Interview (live recording)

2007 Speaker, San Diego Poetry Publication Party, San Diego, California

2006 Speaker, North County Author’s and Poets Book Fair, Escondido, California

2003 Artist Speaker, Michelle Shocked, Campfire Series, International Women’s Day Show, “Civil Liberties Are Like Marshmallows” in collaboration with the International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, Los Angeles, California

Teaching

2014-present Awaken Your Creative Soul class, Moon Circles

2010-present Awaken Your Divine Feminine Soul eClass

2010 Wise Woman University Mentor, Awaken Your Divine Feminine Soul eClass

2001 HGTV, Your New House, silk painting demo

1995-2001 Artist Educator, Sawdust Art Festival, Laguna Beach, California

1990′s Assistant Instructor, Laguna Outreach Community Artists, Laguna Beach, California Private silk painting instruction, Laguna Beach, California

Galleries

American Visions Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri Artscape, Long Beach, California Art for the Soul, Balboa Island, California Black Cat Gallery, San Juan Capistrano, California Brushworks Studio, San Diego, California Chakra Shack, Laguna Beach, California Hanging Tree Gallery, Rolling Hills Estates, California How Original Gallery, Laguna Beach, California Karma Boutique, San Diego, California Laguna Beach Art Museum Store, Laguna Beach, California Mermaids, Carlsbad, California Mingei International Folk Museum Store, San Diego, California Mystic Arts, Laguna Beach, California

Art Shows

1994-present Abbott Kinney Art Festival, Venice Beach, California Art from the Heart, Solana Beach, California Artistic License, Costa Mesa, California Borrego Springs Circle of Art, California Bowers Art Museum Show, Santa Ana, California Carmel Valley Artists, San Diego, California Fullerton Art Museum Show, California Gogh Van Orange, Orange, California Hillcrest Festival of Fine Arts, San Diego, California Idyllwild Jazz in the Pines, Idyllwild, California Irvine Studio Arts Festival, California La Quinta Art Under the Umbrellas, California New York Stationary Show, New York Oceanside Days of Art, California San Clemente Art Festival, California Santa Monica Contemporary Crafts Market, California Sawdust Art Festival (1995-2001), Laguna Beach, California Sierra Madre Art Festival, Sierra Madre, California Sierra Madre Creative Arts Group, California Winter Sawdust Art Festival, Laguna Beach, California

Licensed Art

Creative Image Licensing Designer Fabric Handbags Enchanted Tattoos Fantasy Tea Shop Fantasy Fabric Block Recycled Paper Greetings The Fairy Society

Self Published

Awaken Your Divine Feminine Soul eClass Barely A Taste Chapbook by Tangerine Bolen, Ground Creative Soul CardsMoon Musings Volume 1 Zines & Chapbooks: Mugwort, Gadfly, Ground, Songs of the LeftiesZodiac Goddess Playbook

Related Activities

2011-2012, 2008 Founding Member, Social Media Communications, Riverside Art Museum Printmakers Network, Riverside, California Volunteer, Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, Temecula, California

2010 Founder Facilitator, Creative Soul Circle, social site

2007 Founder Facilitator, Temecula Artist’s Salon, Temecula, California

2006 Founder Facilitator, Temecula Writer’s Café, Temecula, California

Associations

Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, Temecula, California Printmakers Network (PNET), Riverside Art Museum Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California Women’s Caucus for Art, United States

Education

2005-14 Printmaking, letterpress, book arts, encaustic studies with Leslie A. Brown, Dixon Fish, Igor Koutsenko, Victoria Rabinowe, Sibyl Rubottom, Helen Shafer Garcia, Christina Li, Amber George, Kindra Crick

2007-08 Printmaking, Palomar College, San Marcos, California

2003-06 Life drawing, San Jacinto College, Menifee, California

1994 Silk painting studies with Christine Mariotti, Wild Fibre, Long Beach, Califonria

1992 Graphic Design Diploma, St. Lawrence College, Kingston, Canada

1988 BA Art History, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada

View more of Kathy's Art

Creative Soul ‘Lefty’ Art from the deck
LuLu in Laguna
Elves & Aliens
Divine Feminine Abstracts

Interviews with Kathy

Press Enterprise
Voyageur Magazine
Wise Woman Radio
Bliss Chick Blog
Feminine Mojo
The Reluctant Medium
Fog City Psychic

Creative Soul ‘Lefty’ Art from the deck

Interviews with Kathy

Press EnterpriseVoyageur MagazineWise Woman RadioBliss Chick BlogFeminine MojoThe Reluctant MediumFog City Psychic