Visit The Visionary Art of Paul P. Rucker
He’s been called an iconographer. A dream fisher. Some say his art is yoga.
He says, “All true. Art is a shining mirror that gives back to you what you bring to it.”
He’s Paul B. Rucker and since 1994 he’s traveled across the U. S. with his unique Otherworld images of Gods and Goddesses, Faeries and Angels, and Fantasy Visionary Scenes making stops at countless galleries, retail and alternative venues, conventions and festivals, and private sales around the country. Hearing-impaired since birth, early childhood visionary encounters brought about an intense connection with, and a heightened awareness of, the Otherworld.
“Making art was my way of bringing magic back here. It still is.” ..”Every now and then, people have dreamed of me or my work before encountering either in the material realm.”
Drawing with pen, pencil, and mixed media he creates his unique images in heightened otherworldly colors and milieus through acrylic and the occasional water-based media or with oils.
His artworks have been featured in several pagan magazines including: Green Egg, Hecate’s Loom, Mezlim, Psychedelic Illuminations, Tapestry Journal, and Reclaiming Quarterly. He’s also put his touch to card games, logos, T-shirts, brochures, and the CD album covers: “Ancestor Energy” and Mojo Roots: “Prakriti’s Kiss.”
“My influences include astral dream travel from a very young age, mythology and mystery from all over the world, and individual artists like Leo and Diane Dillon, Vali Myers, Bernini, and many unknown icon and thangka painters, neoPlatonic dreamers, and idol-makers.
At this time I am probably best known for having created a seminal image of the tutelary Yezidi deity, Melek Ta’us, the “Peacock Angel, ” also a major deity in the Feri current of witchcraft. That painting was created over a period of two years (1993-1995) with very little information or lore to go on (since I was not then, nor am yet, an initiate of Feri– except perhaps by the Gods) yet its reception in the world, especially among Feri, has been nothing short of spectacular. Scans of my postcard of this image appeared on the web years before I got my own site and some startling conclusions have been drawn by people at large concerning it. (For more on this, see my upcoming essays that describe how this image came to be and its after effects.)”
In the spring of 2008, European students of T. Thorn Coyle commissioned me to paint the “Divine Twins” of Feri, which work has been well received by Thorn and the larger Feri audience.
Rucker also experiments with photography, body paint and digital layering. “One of my favorites, the “Faerie Madonna” from June 2004, is on the cover of issue #14 (Spring 2009) of SPELLCRAFT, the premiere metaphysical magazine of the Southern hemisphere! The inside of this issue also features a short piece about me featuring my “Blue Man” persona, a self-created avatar in jewel colors, peacock feathers and richly ornamented blue skin. I “launched” the Blue Man at the Faerieworlds festival in Eugene, OR in 2006 and have brought it back two other times to date. “Iconic” is the word I most often hear about the effect– and images of me in this guise can be found in promotion and advertising for the event as well, and on my site and my Facebook and Myspace pages also.”
“In addition to pursuing body paint and exploration of the “magical personality” in environments of spiritual intention outside of the formal temple, I am looking forward to exploring imagery of male faeries in general, as I am convinced that the current fashion in faerie points to a need for a connection with natural magic in a manner that is intimate, personal and enchanting– and the presence of the masculine is sorely needed and desired here.”
The Divine Feminine is highly focused on by so many artists today that we see a refreshing balance in Rucker’s valiant capture of the Divine Masculine. He not only merges his deeply personal insight to our Otherworld perception within the Gods own running colors..he does us all a great favor in revealing the subtle balance that is creation itself.
He also publishes essays, articles, poetry and reviews in addition to creating artworks. Regarding what may come: generating oracular decks, monographs, and other forms of visual/textual presention rank high on his list of future activities.