Sam Guay: images that do not explain, but open

An artist working from experience

Sam Guay is a watercolour artist and illustrator, known around the world for the Blood Moon Tarot. Experience sits at the centre of the work. Not the system, not the perfect shape, but what an image can bring up when it is given space. That is why the illustrations often feel like stories, like a scene that began halfway through and does not need an ending. You can look without rushing, and without pressure to find the right words straight away.

The role of nature and the body

In many illustrations the same motifs return, all close to the natural world: leaves, moths, snakes, hands, skin. They are not fixed symbols with one meaning. They carry atmosphere and feeling. Nature is not background decoration but something close by, and the landscape sometimes seems to merge with the inner world. The body plays a clear part as well. Hands reach out, carry, protect or let go. Figures are rarely sharply outlined and often move between visible and invisible.

Blood Moon Tarot: a tarot deck without fixed keywords

The best known work by Sam Guay is the Blood Moon Tarot. This deck has 78 cards, all hand painted in watercolour. It began as an independent project and later got wider distribution, so it is now available worldwide. If you like decks that start with one maker, you can find more indie tarot decks in our shop. The tarot structure stays recognisable, but the execution deliberately steps away from classic systems. The Major Arcana are narrative scenes that feel more like dream fragments than traditional iconography. The Minor Arcana are divided into four suits, each with its own mood and themes.

Image before meaning

The guide text for the Blood Moon Tarot does not offer one fixed list of meanings. It treats the cards as directions and perspectives, not conclusions. That makes the deck less suitable if you want firm footing in clear keywords, but a good match if you want to find out what an image brings up. Emotions, memories and associations can exist side by side. For many readers this deck supports reflection: not because it labels everything, but because it makes something visible.

About language and pronouns

In English sources, Sam Guay is often referred to with the gender neutral pronouns they/them. In Dutch, this is usually translated as hen or hun. This follows how Sam Guay identifies and is used consistently in publications and by publishers. It says little about the work itself, but it fits the attention to nuance and care that you also see in the illustrations.

Why this work stays with people

What sets the work of Sam Guay apart is not only the look, but the attitude behind it. The illustrations do not try to force anything. They do not explain. They show something and then leave room. Many people notice that the cards land differently over time. Not because the image changes, but because the viewer does. What first stayed in the background can come forward later, simply because your attention has moved.

Sam Guay and the Blood Moon Tarot at a glance

Sam Guay is a watercolour artist and illustrator, best known for the Blood Moon Tarot. This deck has 78 hand painted cards and is known for narrative imagery, an open approach to interpretation and a focus on experience over fixed meaning. It suits readers who use tarot for reflection and visual language, and who like a calm, layered approach.

More artists and decks to look at:

• Indie tarot decks in a new light
• Deleted World Tarot: a quiet look at forgotten light
• Intuitive tarot reading without guilt about the “real” meaning