Bio

Jamie Sawyer 336 

When I first created what has come to be known as Tarot Tiles, I was burning all 78 wooden backs by hand. Arduous, time consuming and also not great for my lungs... so we started to explore the idea of laser engravers to hasten the pace, and also making them more accessible to others who had shown interest. Tim, my partner, found himself in place of job transition, from no longer wanting to be on the roads (he was an owner operator) the drive was no longer in him—pun intended.  We discussed the idea of him helping me, learning the steps of the creation process. He had watched me do it many times, but never thought he’d be helping.  Prepping the copponents while I was at my studio tattooing, then after we could assemble and resin together.  Transforming our “side hustle”, from being something "extra” that we did on the weekends to the cornerstone of our now growing business.  
We truly work well together.  The creations have morphed and evolved, discovering new ways to use the Tarot Tiles in conjunction with cards and daily divination practice. Casting boards were realized soon after.  I’m so grateful that Tim can take one of my drawings or visions and help to make it into the tabgible pieces you see within these virtual walls. 

When you welcome one of our Creative Divination Tools into your home, you are helping to support a small family business. We are constantly creating new tools so be sure to visit often to see what’s new!

 Side story, you may be curious about what the 336 means... 
It’s my life path.  We all have one, it’s how your birthday reduces to a number.  Mine is 33 which lands me in the Life path of 33/6.  I first learned of this method from Dan Millman’s book “The Life You Were Born to Live”.  His words reflected back to me lessons and triumphs I recognized along my path.  I never meant for it to become my brand, but here we are... It’s a reminder to stay on the path even if at times it seems difficult.  

 

 

Herstory:

The short version:
I was born on a Tuesday in the late 1970s under a Full Scorpio Moon in Arizona, the last day of May, to loving dysfunctional parents and an older brother, 3.5 years my senior.  I grew up, went to school, graduated, and worked many jobs til I found I could truly make a living with art.  I am a Tattoo Artist, having adorned people’s skin since 2002, making personal indelible connections through creating permanent art in Sacred Space.  I’ve always had hobbies that helped to channel my non-tattoo art into some interesting ways. From- Resin arts, Pyrography, Tarot, Painting, found object sculptures, to wearable functional art... getting lost in the act of creation.  Thanks to Covid-19, (and my Death Card Year) our side hustle replaced my main job, I said goodbye to the full-time life I spent 18 years cultivating transitioning into semi-retirement. 

If you would like the long story... Keep reading. 

 

The long version, where I came from:

I’ve always been creative, since as long as I can remember. Drawing, Sewing, Sculpting, crafting hand-cut paper into home-made cards and envelopes that my Paternal Grandmothers kept til their dying days... Learning to finger knit as a wee child, from my Maternal Grandmother to pass the long summer days. Creating something out of nothing was my world before I even knew how to label it. I may not have always been deemed “good” at something, I struggled often, but I tried and tried and tried again.  Perhaps that’s how/where/when my 8 of Pentacles energy truly took shape.  My parents and teachers had always been supportive, no dream crushers there.

In fact I was my own worst critic and even talked myself out of AP Art my senior year in high school because I hadn’t realized my teacher had recommended me for the program... even though I hadn’t taken any of the pre-requisite classes. When I saw it on my schedule a few weeks before my senior year commenced... I freaked out and took myself out of it.  I may have been creative but I was lacking in self-worth. You see, I felt that I hadn’t worked as hard as the other students, so in turn it wasn’t my place to be there....
Don’t feel sad for me, I was staying in my perceived lane at the time.  In fact in reflection, I’m happy I had dropped the class because it opened my schedule up to be able to take other elective classes down the art hallway.  I learned metal smithing with copper and silver to make crude pendants, silk painting, wax resist batiks, plaster casting, ceramics and so much more!  I had a blast that last year of school. I didn’t have big plans for college or the funds to even explore it as a viable option.  I enrolled in community college and stopped after a year. I still didn’t know what I wanted to be when I “grew up”, I felt it had to be something with art and the process of creation, but the picture hadn’t come into focus so I took a year off.... I was working full time at a local video store, eventually being promoted to a “keyholder” role. (I’ve always been good with management.)

The world has a way of descending upon us when we daydream of bigger things. Shortly after my video store clerk days, when I was around 19, I found myself working at a well known insurance agency, it was time for a “grown up” job while I floundered and tried to figure things out. Fast forward a few months when I moved from New Jersey to Georgia to escape a life of writing insurance, (nothing wrong with that, it just was not me) fleeing in search of reinvention and chasing a boy... Why is there always a boy? Because that’s just the way it has always been for me in life... Til I learned to truly love myself, I projected it onto others... I’ll spare you that brief  southern gallivanting Herstory, just know I had to work in jobs I didn’t want , in order to learn what I did want. I vividly remembering having a mental break outside of the deli I had found myself managing, longing for  New Jersey.... I had a moment of clarity that I wasn’t creating art and my life was feeling it.  I moved back north a a few short weeks later, after spending 2 years down south. I will still to this day encourage people to move away from the place they grew up to explore the world... Home will always be there waiting seemingly unchanged. 

After moving home, I began to build my creative space, focusing more on art and allowing my passions to open up. (Should I mention I got my first tattoo in Georgia? Thus sparking an obsession for the craft....) I worked part-time at a local art store before branching out and going back to the video world.  I couldn’t help it, I loved movies and it was a fun job!!  I quickly went from part-time to full time and then to store management.  All while that was happening, I had started getting more and more tattoos, becoming a regular at a shop in New Hope, Pa. In February of 2002 I officially started my tattoo apprenticeship, a love affair with an art form that helped me grow in more ways than I was even prepared for, it broke me down and built me up over and over again.  Tattooing was always the easy part. Living up to expectations and projections of others, was the arena I found myself in.  Getting inside my head, comparing myself to all other tattooers... without knowing their journeys. I wouldn’t change it for anything; I’m forever grateful for that world. Tattooing saw me through a marriage, fur-babies, a divorce, death of fur-babies, another marriage and a transformation of my own Self.  It helped me to travel, connect and come out of my shell, challenged my courage and solidified my confidence.  Pushed limits, snapping back only to push some more.  Tattooing became my safe, comfortable, space... so much that I could focus on other stirrings in my soul.

Tarot entered my life like a wrecking ball around 2013. It had always been on the periphery, but never a daily practice or ritual.  More of a book on the shelf that caught my eye from time to time.  Religion came and went multiple times through my life, I’ve always deemed myself to be spiritually curious but never buying into organized religion.  I prefer to explore the great mystery on my own terms.  My Mother and I would discuss in depth about our tarot pulls and how it seemed the cards were never wrong.  In 2015 when I began drawing my first deck, Sawyer’s Path, A Tarot Journey- I didn’t realize I was opening a portal to a new world, a new version of the Self forever changing who I had come to know.  I felt the love of the chase, rekindled the “getting to know you phase” of exploring an avenue in which my art could show up change my world and that of others. Most of the things I create are self-serving, so when the divination community welcomed Sawyer’s Path with open arms, I really didn’t know how to react. Tarot has brought me some of my best friends and a sea of support through unprecedented times. I still struggle with imposter syndrome and wondering if I’m in the wrong lane; however working with the archetypes and energies of the cards I have come to trust the process and allow it to unfold how it will.  I never dreamed it would turn into what it is today.

If you’ve read this far, thank you.

This story has no end as I am still the Fool finding her place among the journey. Tarot is a Möbius strip of Self-exploration. It is my wish that the divination tools we create will help you to get playful and find aspects of your Self that you may not have otherwise explored. 

To create is to divine.  Creative Divination has become an essential part of my daily practice.