Winona Cookie

Original watercolor and inkline depiction of “The Queen of Cups” tarot card designed for an Art Nouveau deck. I designed this piece as part of a proposal for an all-female tarot card deck to be depicted in an art nouveau style. I also wanted the women to have different ethnicities depending on suit and for the deck to combine astrological (zodiac signs) and wiccan (elements, Four Directions, seasons) components into each card in a meaningful way. I see Cups as a Water suit, with a Western direction, situated at night during a warm spring. Cups signify emotionality and beauty, pleasure and knowledge, as well as being a symbol for the unconscious mind and the dreamworld. I wanted my Queen of Cups to embody love, passion and beauty. S...

*Featured in Art Universe* Many towns boast houses which are rumored to be haunted, but at most the “hauntings” typically amount to a creak here, a shriek there, a vague sense of unease when passing by. The tiny town of Peakwich has the real thing, however – a looming manse encased in brambles which locals have dubbed “Moribund Manor”. As haunted houses go, there is nothing subtle about this one: the trees around it have long since died, fog enshrouds it on the clearest of evenings and, within 800 feet of the looming edifice, the temperature drops no less than 20 degrees. These oddities pale in comparison, though, to the fact that Moribund Manor is unambiguously inhabited by the deceased victims of every tragic accident or unfortunate...

Despite the ubiquity of witches on brooms in popular depiction, they are a bit like the Vespas of the witching world, truth be told. Zippy, handy and stylish, but only good for short trips. No, when witches have some distance to travel, they like to maximize comfort, as Sarsaparilla here is doing. After all, if one can enchant any household item into an air conveyance, why not go for a chaise lounge, divan or settee? Sarsaparilla has outfitted hers with a propeller, landing gear and a horn in the event of crowded skies. Plenty of foot room and space left over for tea service and her familiar, Tintagel. And of course, horns and antlers, because sometimes even the best spells go awry... This 11" x 14" handcut original collage was...

Back before there were cafes and coffee franchises on every corner, before there were home espresso systems that gleam like aircraft cockpits and coffee makers that do everything but drink a cup for you, there were sleepy people who needed to wake up, and there was Mrs. Samovar. A sturdy and cheerful immigrant from the wilds of what is now Belarus, Mrs. Samovar journeyed to the U.S., bring little else than her omnipresent pipe and a bracing recipe for brewed coffee that earned her the title the Countess of Caffeine. “Black as night and sweet as sin” she’d chuckle in her heavy accent before dispensing dainty cups of her eye-opening beverage rumored to cause full-blown panic attacks in the uninitiated. Soon the town simply slept in withou...

The Green Man is all dressed up with his forest friends to send your most festive holiday wishes. Ramona Szczerba © 2020 All rights reserved.

Has there been an accomplishment? A feat? An act of cunning and derring do? Why not let the Trebuchet Triplets help express your congratulations and admiraton? Tonique, Travertina and Tearose will shimmy til they see a smile and maybe longer than that (hard to stop once one gets started.) This 5" x 7" original collage was constructed of hand cut and hand assembled vintage images and ephemera and is accented with dresden trim, culled print and sparkling crystals. This original artwork and story are copyright Ramona Szczerba 2012. Copyright to this material is in no way transferable with the sale of this item. The buyer is not entitled to any reproduction rights – neither image nor story can be reproduced without my express writ...

This original watercolor and inkline depiction of the Major Arcana “Hanged One” tarot card designed for an all-female deck. Symbolizing sacrifice and a surrender to a greater force as well as the power of receptivity, the Hanged One is suspended upside down in a tranquil pond. Her posture is one of stillness, balance and entrancement and her flaming hair spreads out like a nimbus in the water, which denotes the unconscious mind. Her amphibious frog companions lend their ability to thrive in disparate atmospheres and the change in perspective to be gained from moving between them. The Hanged One is aligned with the suit of Cups, the domain of love and happiness and is associated with receptivity, the soul and the unconscious mind. ...

Holiday travel can be so hectic, especially in these trying times. Why not try the Polar Bear Express, as these wise birds are doing and go in style? Original is 8" x 10" hand cut and placed vintage images on watercolor paper and accented with marbleized paper, handmade paper and dresden trim. Ramona Szczerba © 2019

Deep in a winter forest, Isolde and her penguin friends gather snowflakes by the light of the full moon.

What do you get when a snowman, a barn owl, a badger, a squirrel and a ferret gather in the forest on a moonlit night? A celebration, that's what! Let them bring some festivity to your winter holidays as well. Ramona Szczerba © 2020

A lovely forest goddess and her fox companion bring you most magical Seaso's Greetings. Ramona Szczerba © 2020

A new moon and Venus sparkle in a snowy night sky, so serene. Caran d'Ache on mixed media paper. Ramona Szczerba © 2019

One doesn’t often think of fairies traveling – most tales have them inhabiting a particular forest or heath, but in truth many fairies are beset by an abiding wanderlust. That was certainly the case with Verlaine Lalouche, a French fairy and her lovely cousin Marcellin Terrebonne, who made her home in the wild & mysterious New World. They had decided to rendezvous in Switzerland to rest up for an exhaustive European tour and so found themselves in Neufchatel, flitting around fragrant cafes and ancient forests. In a well-appointed villa in the exact center of one such forest, a doctor’s wife had commandeered her husband’s laboratory and was concocting all manner of unusual potions. Truth be told, she was bored witless. The doctor...

St. Lucia, bringer of light, sounds her horn to herald longer days on the shortest day of the year. She and her magical animal companions bring you warmest winter greetings. Hand cut vintage images on watercolor paper accented with molded paper, dresden trim and glitter. Ramona Szczerba © 2020

Rainbow Queen sprinkles celebration, wonder, curiosity and awe towards the diverse, the queer and even the weird, in the full spectrum of all we can be. Happy Pride! Ramona Szczerba © 2021

Ramona Szczerba © 2019 All Rights Reserved. Imaginary fall priestess and her coyote.

Little St. Lucy is ready to set some stars in the sky by the light of the full moon with the help of her winged reindeer, snow hare and owl. They bring you warmest wishes and Winter Greetings. Handcut vintage images on watercolor paper accented with handmade paper and glitter. Ramona Szczerba © 2018

Zora Zendala's Mobile Menagerie One does not usually think of animals possessing wanderlust – exclusive of migratory birds and fish, they tend to stay put, for the most part. There are exceptions, however and they were sadly doomed to their claustrophobic corners of the earth until Zora Zendala and her mobile menagerie happened along. The only daughter of the famous zebra trainer, Zephyr Zendala and his lovely full figured wife Zaftig, Zora possessed a marked way with animals, but while she loved the itinerant nature of circus life, she preferred engineering to the entertainment industry. The family’s modest fortune allowed her to attend boarding school and to gain a solid foundation in the subject while her mother and father travele...

One can only wonder what manner of strange concoctions Emile Henrard must have sampled to result in not one, but three horned offspring, but the 1830 Revolution had turned Brussels into a rather stressful place. No matter; by the turn of the century, the old apothecary had retired and turned his business over to his three sons, Anatole, Alphonse and Alcazar. The young men wasted no time in packing up their potions and elixirs and boarding an ocean liner for America, believing that, in the land of the free, where all men were created equal (even those with horns), their collective peculiarity would prove less of a hindrance. Of course, they could not have been more wrong, as they realized when they were abruptly awoken in the middle of...

Enchanted woodland creatures gather under a full solstice moon to bring you most magical winter greetings. Hand cut vintage images on watercolor paper with specialty paper accents and glitter. Ramona Szczerba © 2018

Lady Anisette Springerle, Fagan (a fox) and her bear friend Boris are all dressed up for the holiday Arctic Jubilee Ball. Be sure to invite them all to your holiday events as well! Ramona Szczerba © 2018.

Woodland friends carry your solstice greetings!

Ramona Szczerba © 2019 Artwork for Wheel of Fortune Tarot card from all - female deck.

Mathilde and Hortense and their crow familiars, Bartosz and Handel always kick off the Halloween festivities with a full moon tea. Why not make them a part of your next witches' confluence? Ramona Szczerba © 2019

Nothing's apt to put a witch in foul humor faster than the drudgery of housekeeping - ugh, such a chore! Alswythe has been at it all evening and has finally plopped herself down on a sliver of moon for a breather. Poultice, who has been trying to make himself scarce all night, silently pleads with his eyes that you not mention any missed dust bunnies in the corners. How do you think they got there in the first place anyway? Best you tiptoe off and return bearing a great deal of ... chocolate. The original of this collage was constructed of art paper, vintage images, dresden trim, glitter and punched crepe on a Strathmore photo mount card. Ramona Szczerba © 2012 – All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced without my express writte...

Ramona Szczerba © 2019 All Rights Reserved. Get your bold on! Artwork for Page of Cups tarot card designed for all-female deck. Watercolor and ink.

Strange Playthings 2 [Please see Strange Playthings for story: http://tinyurl.com/gph6b6a. Please see Artists Note]. This 4” x 6” original collage depicts little Auspice Augury perched on a settee in the parlor with the evening’s amusements. It is constructed of handcut vintage images on water color paper and is accented with walnut ink, Dresden trim, tissue tape and glitter. Ramona Szczerba © 2016 All Rights Reserved.

Mabon and Edgar, her crow employ occult cleaning techniques as well as an enchanted broom to combat hate, intolerance and giant furballs. They hope to inspire you to make a difference in your own way as well. This 4″ × 6″ original handcut collage was created out of vintage images , dresden trim, glitter tape, crystals and a feather on paper. Ramona Szczerba © 2018 All Rights Reserved

This 9" x 12" original mixed media collage depicts Penumbra, goddess of the lunar eclipse accompanied by her three panthers. According to legend,* the partial lunar eclipse occurs when one of Penumbra's panthers leaps onto the full moon and crouches there, ready to pounce. *Legend wholly made up by me :-). Created from handcut vintage images on handpainted mixed media paper with handmade papers, eucalyptus leaves and glitter stars. Ramona Szczerba © 2017

Original watercolor and inkline depiction of “The Queen of Cups” tarot card designed for an Art Nouveau deck. This version without lettering. I designed this piece as part of a proposal for an all-female tarot card deck to be depicted in an art nouveau style. I also wanted the women to have different ethnicities depending on suit and for the deck to combine astrological (zodiac signs) and wiccan (elements, Four Directions, seasons) components into each card in a meaningful way. I see Cups as a Water suit, with a Western direction, situated at night during a warm spring. Cups signify emotionality and beauty, pleasure and knowledge, as well as being a symbol for the unconscious mind and the dreamworld. I wanted my Queen of Cups to em...

While it’s true that Naturally Occurring Witches are most desirable, if you should find yourself in need of a witch and none are handy, you may want to consider the Random Witch Generator. Simply affix to a large pumpkin, pour in a capful of Witch Starter ™, calibrate the gauges, wind the key and stand well back. Very well back. Really. Expect chugging, shuddering, some green and purple smoke and an enormous bbbBBLOORRrttt! And there you have it: in this case a thankfully small and conventional witch accessorized with a seriously annoyed familiar. Should anything resembling a 400 pound slimy Spite Witch emerge, our recommendation would be to flee immediately while keeping in mind that Magic Co. accepts no liability for unfortunate o...

You may think you know all there is to know about happy holidays, but until you've seen a penguin in a top hat tap dancing with a candy cane whilst a nattily dressed gentleman with a boiled sweet on his hat plays the trumpet, well you don't truly know the meaning of "festive". So send Sir Sebastian and his penguin companion to your friends and loved ones to ensure a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. This 4.5" x 6.5" original collage is constructed of handcut vintage images on art paper, accented with dresden trim and a feather and mounted on 5" x 7" black illustration board. This original artwork and story are copyright Ramona Szczerba 2014. Copyright to this material is in no way transferable with the sale of this item. ...

Reclaiming the torch of freedom from the flaming hellscape to burn brightly in a new paradigm. Ramona Szczerba © 2022. Watercolor and colored pencil on mixed media paper.

Power of Three: With the Witching Hour fast approaching, Tansy, Marjoram and Alyssum have gathered for some serious incantations before making their way to the annual Witches’ Carnival. Attended by familiars Pennyroyal (owl) and Mugwort (ill-tempered kitten) as well as an Extra Large bottle of Witch Cream, the evening should be an interesting one indeed. Let the festivities begin! This 5” x 7” original collage is constructed fo handcut vintage images on stamped paper and is accented with art paper, glitter and rhinestones. It is mounted on embossed cardstock. This original artwork and story are copyright Ramona Szczerba 2014. Copyright to this material is in no way transferable with the sale of this item. The buyer is not entitl...

On the longest night of the year, the Solstice goddess Divalia balances the moon on her torch to light the way as she slowly escorts the Night along its diminishing journey to the summer solstice when it will sleep the longest. She is accompanied by a young stag who will grant the wish of any who see him. So if you spot a deer on the winter solstice, be sure to make a wish - it might be Divalia's companion. Part of the Moon Goddess series, this Winona Cookie mythology comes bearing most auspicious greetings for a magical solstice. This 4″ × 6″ original handcut collage was constructed of vintage images and mulberry paper on handpainted watercolor paper and is embellished with glitter and silver ribbon. Ramona Szczerba © 2017....

Welcome to Mrs. Macabre’s* Meat Pies, where the food is cheap and the rats are nervous. Mrs. Macabre will serve anyone or anything, so wave those flies aside and dig in! A bit unappetizing, yes, but so perfect for your Halloween or Grand Guignol décor! This 4 1/2” x 6 1/2” original collage is constructed on heavy art paper of meticulously hand cut vintage images accented with Dresden trim, crystals and silk trim and fitted into a black 8” x 10” acid free matte and is ready for framing. Signed on the back. *Actually my great grandmother, Helen Nidzgorski. This original artwork and story are copyright Ramona Szczerba 2013. Copyright to this material is in no way transferable with the sale of this item. The buyer is not entitled...