Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot

baba-prague

Just for you then :)

Here she is. A very "I am royalty you know" Siberian - exactly like our Lotte who really is a cat who knows she has a pedigree LOL (Minnie cuffs her when she gets too imperious!)

http://www.bohemian-cats.com/examples/panorama-princess.jpg

We are now building a whole salon scene - this is a lot of work but loads of fun.

Yes, perhaps we do have to think prints. If I could do anything in the world though (which I certainly can't) I would design a range of Baroque Cats porcelain - pictures on very plain, large, fine white dishes. I'd love that. But well, can't have everything!
 

Alta

I had seen that lady in the finest purple in your panorama. Oh my.

And I agree with the others. You could really increase the profitablity by carefully licensing the images to quality manufacturers.
 

HudsonGray

Oh my! That looked like a tiny skull & crossbones right in the center of the skirt's hem! I know it's just a ribbon, but it jumped right out at me. The Jolly Roger flanked by two Runes.... I wonder why that was? Are you hiding hidden messages?

The "X" is the rune called Gebo: "GEBO - The Gift of Harmonic Relationships - When we acknowledge our higher power and in turn the higher power gives back to us, then we have harmony. This is a great representation of the working of karma. Good things come in return for good deeds. We need to meditate on the magic of working with knowing our spiritual forces and treating them as we want a pleasing and easy environment to allow us to set us up for good things to come. There is a strong showing for respect of nature. "
 

Astra

Lovely! I got a bit distracted by Hermes in the foreground giving somebody the minor finger ("when you don't care enough to send the very best"), but managed to refocus on the exquisite detail in the drape of the gown. Mmmm.
 

baba-prague

Yes, that is actually how this Hermes comes - it's an exquisite miniature by a UK guy who does hand-carved and cast miniature bronzes (believe it or not 1:12) taken from Renaissance originals. So this pose is original. It makes us laugh too, but I do like it. I'm sure in the 16th century the meaning was a little different.

So, just for you Astra, I present the curious peahen:
http://www.bohemian-cats.com/examples/panorama-peacock.jpg
(by the way, in the final we may take off the modern windows - some of these are old, but some are not, and although you can hardly see them at normal size, we will remove them).

Although the panoramas are very suitable for children and we are really careful not to make them too alarming or bizarre, it is nice to get in a few very subtle (hidden in the distance) laughs for adults too. Peahens are birds of rather little brain...
 

Alta

The impression of depth in that scene is almost startling. I noticed that with many of cards. The impression of spaciousness is remarkable. You must have done a lot of work with light.
 

baba-prague

Thanks Marion. We actually built that set in miniature - then blended in photos. The whole technique has been developing as we go along. It's a mixture of real-size photos (often with quite a lot of work put into the light and shadow), small models (about a foot high) and props like same scale chairs etc, and then 1:12th full sets (doll's house size). In the end it's reasonably seamless I hope - you can kind of see which is which but not in an obvious way. Currently we are doing a Baroque Salon - fascinating, as it needs a different approach as it's an interior. The aim is to finish (post-deck, probably in July) with four panoramas in all.

What's become interesting is the way the panoramas feed into the cards and vice versa. It lets us expand the whole world in our own minds, gives it a kind of depth of imagination. Alex can reel off full stories for many of the characters, he does this more than I do, and I find it just opens up the whole thing for me.

More mundanely, we've also just had some large postcards printed up, and this has been invaluable in letting us do more fine adjustment - there are things you just can't see until you have some real print in your hand.

So by the time the deck is ready, it should have taken several steps on from the earliest cards (most of which we have altered and adjusted now). I know it's all a bit obsessional, but the fun for us is in feeling that we can do things now that we couldn't a year ago. We also get a great buzz from putting up pictures in the studio window and directly seeing the reaction. The new "Cats" postcards are literally stopping people in their tracks - although you can sometimes see the sheer bewilderment!

We will really miss this work when it's done - I realise that now.
 

Astra

Is that peahen actually a construct at 1/12th size? Now, I've seen everything! (Until the next wondrous thing you and Alex come up with)
 

baba-prague

No, the peahen is one of the bits of blended photo (she lives in the Wallenstein garden so is a very spoilt peahen). We did in fact try making miniature peacocks but they didn't look good. The fountain is constructed, but has some bits of photo. Mercury is at 1/12th size. The cats are models etc etc. One of the fun things is putting it all together!
 

contrascarpe

baba-prague said:
We will really miss this work when it's done - I realise that now.

Hmm, then maybe it will be time to move on to a Dog deck?

:)

Dan