Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot

[baba-prague]

Well - whole family were moved across the bedroom this morning (one by one, by Minnie) and have taken up residence under the bedside table. I had to crawl around to try to put a blanket under them - the wooden floor looked so hard and slippery. I think Min has a lot of feral cat instinct and it was simply time to move for safety's sake (feral cats tend to move their kittens regularly). Lotte truly horrifed but fascinated by the whole process - still terrifed of the kittens. I never knew she was such a sensitive soul - with people she is utterly self-confident!

We're finishing the website and working on The Devil card - a tricky one. It looks good and is almost done now...

We also have some kitten photos - but no time to resize etc as yet.

I think the Devil card may be almost the last one we put up here (well no, perhaps we'll end with a more positive card) and then we'll move to showing them more on the website. They somehow look much more interesting seen together.

 

[skytwig]

Aren't cats fascinating?

I love that we don't know everything about them and that they each have such distinct personalities!!

Lotte is precious!! It will be wonderful to see how she takes to them when she realizes they have personalities!!! I will be surprised if she doesn't fall in love with them.....

My cat, Twig, is part feral (we found her when she was a few months old).... her instincts amaze me!

I also have a Chausie, which is a mix between a true Aftrican Wild Cat and a Tabby.... his instincts are stunning!! He can slink around the room like water.... one never knows where he is. He is a giant cat, but one of the most affectionate cats I've ever met!

Do you want us to continue to post our observations of the cards when you stop posting them here?

 

[baba-prague]

Aren't cats fascinating?

I love that we don't know everything about them and that they each have such distinct personalities!!

They really are as different as people. Our two are so unalike it's constantly amusing. Lotte is a real little flightly character, Minnie is ever so sensible. I'm just glad it's just Minnie that had the kittens. I think once Lotte can play with them, they will suddenly seem marvelous. Right now she cannot see the point!

So - here is The Devil - warning, it is genuinely a bit disturbing, for no one reason in particular.

http://www.tarotofprague.com/cats/c_devilforweb.jpg

(by the way, this is one that really does lose some colour and detail at this size, I may quickly put up a detail too).

Oh - and yes, please please do go on commenting, even when it's the website being updated. I can always post to say what's new there as we put cards on. We have ended up with a more sophisticated site than we expected to begin with, so there will be free ecards to send - should be fun!

 

[baba-prague]

Closeup in which you can see the demon pillars.
I KNOW these look modern - almost modernist. In fact they are far from it. They are bronze and from the base of a fountain that dates from the early 18th century - and very scary they are too.

The whole fountain is astonishing. I hope to also use one of the faun figures from it.

http://www.tarotofprague.com/cats/devil_closeup.jpg

 

[lunakasha]

I think the Devil card may be almost the last one we put up here (well no, perhaps we'll end with a more positive card) and then we'll move to showing them more on the website. They somehow look much more interesting seen together.

So.....does this mean they are almost ready to be published?????
Does it look like April is still the release date??? Please, set our minds at ease Karen! We are all so excited about getting these cards....it has been wonderful to see them and be able to hear from you what the process has been like!

Now the Devil card....tuxedo, right???

Thanks Karen....love the Strength card BTW

Karen

 

[skytwig]

So - here is The Devil - warning, it is genuinely a bit disturbing, for no one reason in particular.

Oh, I didn't find it disturbing, just accurate...........

Love the idea of ecards to send!! WUHOOOOOO!!! What fun!

 

[baba-prague]

Oh - if only they were nearly ready. This Devil card took almost THREE DAYS - and that did not include doing the initial sketches, that was only the finishing off. But it was exceptionally difficult.

I think we might slip into May but we don't want to. The problem is that some sketches look more or less finished, then when we really work on them we want to do changes - so it's rather unpredictable.

I desperately want this deck too. That sounds ridiculous but I really mean it - I know that it will come to life once it begins to be used and I want to see that happen - I think it'll be a deck with attitude - all that feline personality in it!

_

edited to say - no tux in The Devil. No, sorry, this Devil is in league with vicious dogs.

The next tux cat is The Hierophant - he is the mirror of the High Priestess - if he remains as the cat I've chosen (sometimes cats get changed at the last minute if the final expression isn't quite right).

 

[ncefafn]

There is no greater Devil to a cat than a slavering hound. Well done!

Kim

 

[skytwig]

Karen: I meant to ask you about Turkish Van cats.... the cat that swims!! I was thinking, with all the water of Cups cards, you may want to see if you can find a Van in a tub!!! Here are some pics and info:

Swimming Cats

Turkish Vans

The Swimming Cats

 

[Hedera]

Re: Detail

The cards will be bigger than ToP but not by much - in other words, bigger than, for example, a standard Lo Scarebeo deck, BUT we want them to be shuffleable, so I have made them as big as I dare.

Yikes! Even bigger than the ToP?

That one was already hard to shuffle - and I have big hands....

It's good from an art point of view, of course, but it will make it less of a reading deck I'm afraid.