Thanks Sunflowr ... I am not actually near London, a little bit out, but I have a lot of friends there and was working there until quite recently.
Well, I went to the local shop that I knew had the deck and looked at it again. I also looked at a few books of interest. I held it for a bit and thought 'what the heck' and took it to the counter.
I went to see my friend and her new daughter afterwards and had a very pleasant afternoon. In the late afternoon, I went for a cigarette in her garden and unwrapped the deck for a little look. I was only going to look at the LWB but since the cards were not wrapped, I took a little look through them.
First impressions? Absolute works of art - every single one of them. I am a real pain for details and in most decks, one of my main problem is an inconsistancy in artwork.
Sometimes, the majors are exquisit, and the minors look like an afterthought. Sometimes, there is just one or two cards that ruin the overall feel of the deck.
Not here! I love the different characters, the scenes are beautiful, as is the backgrounds. The borders (remember, I HATE borders usually) are beautiful and do not take anything away from how beautiful the images are.
You can really tell when something has been well thought out; you can really tell when something is a labour of love, rather than some kind of sterile business idea. You can really tell when someone knows a lot about the history and tradition of what they have presented (ie. the tarot). In these cards, I can tell that Karen and Alexandr have thought about every single little detail added and the best way to present it.
My friend came into the garden and looked through them. She does not know much about tarot but does own a deck somewhere. She has seen many of my decks and I have read for her with quite a few. She hated the Rohrig. She despised the Thoth. She flicked through this one and her response was 'these are gorgeous ... they are the loveliest deck of cards I have seen since that one by Brian Froud'.
So, yes. I am very, very impressed.The only tiny problem was that one card was printed 'off' so the border is cut by the card and it is not central to the framing - not enough to stop me from enjoying the image though. I have not had a chance to look through them properly but I intend to this evening. I have no idea what they will be like to work with but I am so impressed by the artwork and feel that I am excited to have a go.
This really wasn't a serious consideration until I jumped into the thread about the white cats deck last night. I am glad that I did though.
Alexandr and Karen ... I have never looked at the entire Tarot of Prague, but have heard the recommendations here. To produce one deck of this kind of standard is a great achievement. To produce two ... well, what can I say. I wish you both all the best and thank you for sharing your vision.
I am sure I will be back to give more insights as I get to know the deck.
LB