Collage Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 20 Jun 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Marina	20 Jun 2005
Hi everybody! Being a big collage lover as i am - and a collage artist, as well - i've been looking for decks in which the images are...collages. I already own the Enchanted Tarot (Amy Zerner's art is a sort of collage), and i've recently met Full Moon Dreams Tarot [ [url]http://www.lunaea.com/tarot/[/url] ] (which happens to be too expensive for me, since i live in Brazil). But i wish to know if anyone else knows other decks like this. I'm not looking for any particular style - just collages. They can be handmade, digital...you get the picture. I plan on making my own deck, with collages of course. But this is a future project. So...any ideas? Thanks in advance ~Yuko

WolfyJames	21 Jun 2005
Hello! I know three collage decks that might interest you. I'm not fond of collage decks in general but I couldn't resist to the Archeon Tarot and the Golden Tarot. While the Archeon is rather dark, textured, gritty and atmospheric, the Golden is luxurious and luminous. There is also the Gilded Tarot worth mentionning, colorful and digital deck, many cards are breathtaking. P.S. I have the Enchanted tarot as well and I think it's indeed a lovely deck. :)

Marina	21 Jun 2005
WolfyJames wrote: Hello! I know three collage decks that might interest you. I'm not fond of collage decks in general but I couldn't resist to the Archeon Tarot and the Golden Tarot . While the Archeon is rather dark, textured, gritty and atmospheric, the Golden is luxurious and luminous. There is also the Gilded Tarot worth mentionning, colorful and digital deck, many cards are breathtaking. P.S. I have the Enchanted tarot as well and I think it's indeed a lovely deck. :) Hi Wolfy ;) Great to see you here! I really liked the Archeon Tarot...so beautiful! The Gilded Tarot has called me too, but not the way the Archeon did. I found it at Amazon, but since i'm already going to pay for the Fortune Teller's card (as you know), i'll have to wait some months to buy the Archeon, till i have money again. I was hoping to find it in a shop i know they sell imported decks, but they don't have the Archeon there. Big shame. It's definitely going to my wishlist, though. Thanks a lot :) ~Yuko

Annabelle	21 Jun 2005
There are many other collage decks out there in addition to those already mentioned; some that come to mind are the Tarot of Prague, the Baroque Bohemian Cats tarot, the Transformational and the Hero's Journey tarots by Arnell Ando, the Rohrig, the Self-Guided, the Victoria Regina . . . and there are many others out there as well. I love collage decks; if I ever decide to work on a deck myself, it will probably be done as collage.

WolfSpirit	21 Jun 2005
Sacred Circle Tarot Timeless Truth Tarot are two decks with digital collage and a pagan background.

sunflowr	21 Jun 2005
Voyager Tarot is the deck that comes to mind. Check that out. :)

WolfyJames	21 Jun 2005
miss_yuko wrote: Hi Wolfy ;) Great to see you here! I really liked the Archeon Tarot...so beautiful! The Gilded Tarot has called me too, but not the way the Archeon did. I'm glad to see you here too. ;) Yup, I have to admit I get weak in the knees with the Archeon Tarot. As I said, I'm not fond of collage decks but the Archeon is really special, it's an exception. As for the Golden, if you're not told it's a collage deck, you think these are real paintings by themselves, the collage work on the cards are really well done, I even fooled my mother with it. As for the Enchanted tarot, I don't think it's a collage deck actually.* I like the Gilded but it contains flaws in it that disapoint me a little. I've seen recently the Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot, Annik here kindly brought it to our meeting and it's really lovely, but you must love cats to really appreciate it. * Have you ever done embroidery? I have. The Enchanted Tarot is based on embroidery, it is common to add elements like buttons, charms and paintings on cloths with embroidery. Hence why I think the deck is not a collage deck but the embroidery itself.

wizzle	21 Jun 2005
I'm generally not a fan of collage art, but bought the Baroque Bohemian Cats deck and it's beyond wonderful. The collaged images are well thought out, the attention to detail is superb and the deck has a sense of humor. What more could one ask? The Gilded is NOT a collage deck. Lovely and I have it, but not collage. It is digital art from the ground up. I believe the Victoria Regina deck is also collage. As is that old standby, the Voyager Tarot.

Marina	21 Jun 2005
wizzle wrote: I'm generally not a fan of collage art, but bought the Baroque Bohemian Cats deck and it's beyond wonderful. The collaged images are well thought out, the attention to detail is superb and the deck has a sense of humor. What more could one ask? The Gilded is NOT a collage deck. Lovely and I have it, but not collage. It is digital art from the ground up. I believe the Victoria Regina deck is also collage. As is that old standby, the Voyager Tarot. Oh, i'll check this one too! Thank you :) The Gilded is not collage, but is really pretty. Never saw a digital deck before...how interesting! Thanks for everything! ~Yuko

PlatinumDove	21 Jun 2005
I love the artwork in the Sacred Circle.

sunflowr	21 Jun 2005
I forgot about the Housewives Tarot. That is a collage deck too! :)

Marina	21 Jun 2005
WolfyJames wrote: Have you ever done embroidery? I have. The Enchanted Tarot is based on embroidery, it is common to add elements like buttons, charms and paintings on cloths with embroidery. Hence why I think the deck is not a collage deck but the embroidery itself. Yes! I love doing that. Mixing stuff...i work with both digital & handmade collages. And, embroidery, of course ;) I used to paint (oil-painting), and i love to draw (although i'm not very good on it) since i was kid. My grandmother is a dressmaker (and also card-reader, reiki specialist...you get the picture), and my mom learnt many things from her. So mixing things, plus fabrics, cuttons etc. is just natural! I think it look pretty, and was one of the things which made the Enchanted Tarot my first deck! :) What didn't you like in the Gilded, btw? I saw some cards...looks like a pretty deck. sunflowr wrote: I forgot about the Housewives Tarot. That is a collage deck too! :) Oh...what a cute deck! Really looks like vintage/pin-up collages! Fun, fun! I love pictures like that! Thanks you so much! ~Yuko ~Yuko

baba-prague	22 Jun 2005
Annabelle4 wrote: There are many other collage decks out there in addition to those already mentioned; some that come to mind are the Tarot of Prague, the Baroque Bohemian Cats tarot I suppose I should say for clarity that Baroque Bohemian Cats is collage in a way - but the technique is not the same as classic collage. I'm not sure how I'd describe it - basically we built and dressed real models to photograph, so it's a kind of filmic technique (real models superimposed on backgrounds - it has quite a lot in common with the "blue-screening" done in film and television). I must either find or invent a term for this! (or maybe someone can suggest one?) Tarot of Prague is more of a classic collage.

WolfyJames	22 Jun 2005
miss_yuko wrote: Yes! I love doing that. Mixing stuff...i work with both digital & handmade collages. And, embroidery, of course ;) I used to paint (oil-painting), and i love to draw (although i'm not very good on it) since i was kid. My grandmother is a dressmaker (and also card-reader, reiki specialist...you get the picture), and my mom learnt many things from her. So mixing things, plus fabrics, cuttons etc. is just natural! I think it look pretty, and was one of the things which made the Enchanted Tarot my first deck! :) What didn't you like in the Gilded, btw? I saw some cards...looks like a pretty deck. I did embroidery after I bought the deck and since then, I really appreciate the amount of work that Amy Zerner has put on each card. I started with cross-stitch and I bought magazines on embroidery and all, stuff on quilts, and I noticed people like mixing mediums on both and I saw many beautiful works of art. So that's why I think it's the embroidery and not collage, the artist mixed many mediums to create her tapestries. Unfortunatly, due to my illness, I lost mobility in my hands so I don't do embroidey anymore, and some projects are left unfinished. What I don't like about the Gilded? Well, the artist, who is here as Cirom, still remember what I wrote in a thread about his deck, which says a lot about how much I hurt him, and I feel sorry for that, but I still think what I thought before. I want to mention that on Aeclectic, the images there are the pretty ones. The deck is a collage deck because it's not entirely digital, and that was the bad surprise I had when I got the deck, it's that it mixes photos with digital. As I said, I'm not fond of collage decks with real people and the Gilded is such a deck. Cirom digitalizes his real models in the Gilded. Some cards, the most succesful ones, are the cards that are entirely digital. Some others are well blended digitalized cards from real people and they work well too (look at the Judgement card to see how well done the blend is), but some don't work well at all. Plus, the main model, which I discovered later was Cirom himself, has no expression at all, or should I say he has the same expression on every cards he appears, except for the Five of Cups. The female models don't suffer from this though, they're luminous and expressive. I have to admit I'm still somewhat disapointed in this deck but I like it very much, the good cards are in majority in the deck, plus the vibrant colors totally get me. I'm a sucker for vibrant colors.

sunflowr	22 Jun 2005
re: the Gilded: it's a beautiful deck and many people love it. It definitely has a market and I see it being around a long long time. But I personally didnt click with it as well as I had wanted/hoped. I don't usually like too much black, and there's alot of that color. I don't usually care for real people depicted in decks as much as I like drawings or abstract figures. And the mechanical symbols I didnt care for. But thats just me. IMO, it's a classic. I just didnt get along with it as well as I had hoped. But maybe you will like it. :)

wizzle	22 Jun 2005
baba-prague wrote: I suppose I should say for clarity that Baroque Bohemian Cats is collage in a way - but the technique is not the same as classic collage. I'm not sure how I'd describe it - basically we built and dressed real models to photograph, so it's a kind of filmic technique (real models superimposed on backgrounds - it has quite a lot in common with the "blue-screening" done in film and television). I must either find or invent a term for this! (or maybe someone can suggest one?) The term "Magic Tarot" comes to mind. The Cats are truly magical. If the Cats are collage, it is collage taken to a whole new level. The images are not just "smooshed" together.....a clip here...a clip there....but put very carefully into a setting. I can't get over the little costumes. The book is great as well. I generally don't read the books, but this one is special. Love the cat's view.

The Collage Tarot thread was originally posted on 20 Jun 2005 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.