I first met Mo Richard in an uncommon way.
A few years ago, I was asked by Bambi Amy Wendt to draw all the people working at her tattoo shop Jackalope Tattoo as badass, post-apocalyptic, super-heroines. Mo was one of those bad-asses. And none of them knew what Bambi and I were up to. And I hadn’t met most of the people I was drawing. I got to know Mo first through photos so I could get her likeness in the drawing and after her portrait was revealed to her, I was able to meet the actual person. We instantly became friends.
Mo Richard ©Joe Rheault
Everyone loved Mo and I have never heard an unkind word about her. Upon Mo’s passing, her sister-in-law Kari asked my permission to print the portrait I created at her funeral. My portrait of Mo casting nature magic while surrounded by woodland animals greeted people as they entered the building where her funeral ceremony was held. The family thought that image expressed more of who she was than a photograph. The weight of how much that portrait meant to her hit me like a ton of bricks.
Not long after Mo’s funeral, her husband Sam Richard and Bambi asked me to join them over some beers to talk about the Tarot Deck and how we could finish it for her. It was quickly decided that we should reach out to her family and friends to help create the artwork for the Tarot cards she was unable to finish. Using her detailed notes and conversations with Bambi about what she had been intending for each card, the deck was completed.
This project has been extremely difficult and hard on Sam and Bambi emotionally and a little over two months ago, Sam’s sister Kari Johnson offered some assistance. She’s worked in the corporate world and knew how to get things done. With her help, the project was back on track. We also knew that we couldn’t just keep calling it ‘the project’ or ‘Mo’s deck’ so Sam had the idea to use Mo’s twitter and instagram handle @multistabbermo. The Multi-Stabber Tarot was a very fitting name in honor of Mo.
The intent of the project was to fund it through kickstarter because the physical cost of printing a Tarot deck is quite high. We launched the Multi-Stabber Tarot Kickstarter on Monday night at Lake Monster Brewing in St Paul. We hung art created for the cards on the walls and had Mo’s original pieces on display for that night. The evening went wonderfully and I can’t put into words the feelings we all had now that two years of work has come to an end. The art has all been made, the design has been completed, and now the four of us wait and watch as the Kickstarter totals keep going up. It has been a little over a day since the launch and we’re half way to our goal. For everyone who has pledged already, thank you. If you would like to pledge for the Multi-Stabber Tarot kickstarter, I’ll place the link below.
RIP Mo Richards, this deck is for you.