Latest Almanac Debut: Vital Things aka The Podmanac

We are proud to debut our latest almanac. This one has been a summer in the making. In paint, poetry, and clay, we tell the story of our adventures with the 'vital things' around us.

michael and sara chaney art vital things rose.jpg

As this almanac developed, it became a world, or at least, a way of looking at the world.

michael and sara chaney art vital things.jpg


The more we worked at our tiles, and as Sara worked out the poetry that graces the margins, we noticed how the whole piece works as a kind of 3-D tarot deck and even a playable game. Each panel in the middle three rows offers a fortune. Here's a sample of some of those fortunes:

Can you tell this person's fortune? Using this piece you can. First, let the person ask our Podmanac a question. Then, let them roll three dice, each corresponding to a different row of our Almanac.


Then, interpret the trio of tiles thus rolled. If the above were the hand rolled, it would be a good fortune indeed.

From Row I, Animal: The Doe --A tile that means circumstances may arise to tax the asker's patience. Success will come, but only as a result of not acting and not right away.
From Row II, Plant: Coneflower --This card indicates that you will celebrate a wealth of medicinal influences in your life. These could be physically, spiritually, or emotionally medicinal. In this context, this could mean that your current efforts at patience will prove to be healing and prevent your future pain.
From Row III, Mineral: The Engineer (the best card you can get in the mineral row) --Means you're a master of the materials around you. Since this is the third card, one could say ultimate success (becoming the Engineer) comes for this asker once achieving the state of virtuous healing and stillness symbolized in the Coneflower.

The blooms of our garden claim pride of place in "Vital Things." Their vibrant colors command the middle row and the viewer's gaze.

michael and sara chaney art vital things flower duo.jpg

A favorite component of this Almanac is the frame. Made up of decoupage strips delicately torn from antique newspapers, some of them over two hundred years old, the frame bears witness to the ordered miscellany of the world.


Vital Things

The world is full of them....