Has anyone trimmed the Touchstone?

[Carla]

I'm NOT saying that I'm going to or that I'm even thinking about it. I just wondered if anyone had. (After the last deck I trimmed left me with a numb thumb for nearly a week, I will probably never trim another deck again!) Just curious to see scans if anyone had trimmed it. It looks like the kind of deck some might be tempted to trim.

 

[AJ]

I love her Golden, but Touchstone would be one I'd be trimming the center out and leaving the borders...

 

[Le Fanu]

I can see where you're coming from. I never liked those faux brass plaques at the bottom of the frame...

But I think the images are so full of different painterly bits & bobs that without borders I think the whole image might slide into chaos. I think that perhaps these images really need a frame to hold them in place.

I love her Golden, but Touchstone would be one I'd be trimming the center out and leaving the borders...

 

[Carla]

Well, I'd have to have the bottom bit of most of the cards, but I was wondering what it would look like with the top and sides gone and just the bottom left on. Probably a bit weird. Don't know, though, it might be nice.

I just got this today in trade from Essjay. Some of the cards are more appealing than others--some definitely look as though they were worked on longer, while others have a sort of 'that'll do' feel to them. It certainly looks a lot more cut-and-paste, to me, than the Golden. That woman in the 3 of Swords makes me laugh. In fact, this whole deck has a vague Terry Gilliam/Monty Python sort of feel to it. I look at the cards and expect their mouths to open and their head to flip-top backward and some little guy on a unicycle to come peddling out. LOL

 

[Le Fanu]

I personally think that the problem with the Touchstone is that it uses images from a period in art history when perspective & lighting was hugely virtuoso, accomplished and quite dizzying. The slightest collaging, with the slightest shift of perspective or light-source really stands out.

The Golden on the other hand, being Gothic, is pre-perspective and those odd little jolts actually sit quite well.

I think in the case of trimming the Touchstone, IMO it would have to be all or nothing.

 

[Carla]

I spent an hour today lying on the bed and listening to Deva Premal chants, studying each card in turn. I just held a card up and stared at the person in the card until I could finally see why the facial expression was chosen to the depict that particular card. When it clicks, it's an amazing feeling. All of a sudden, the face in the card looks very knowing. I love Justice. Her face seems to say, 'Yeah, I saw that. Don't you worry. It's gonna catch up to you.' For some, I read the description in the book, checking out who's in the portrait, who painted it, etc. For others, not. I worked through the whole deck and just spent as much time as I wanted with each card. Sometimes up to 5 minutes on a single card, just staring. It was a lovely way to spend an hour. I'm still not loving the 3 of Swords, though. She's so funny. She doesn't look heartbroken to me at all. I need to have a little heart to heart with her on our own, I think.

I'm definitely not trimming it.