Submerina of the tarot blog, the princess and the sea, chose the Eight of Wands from Kat Black’s Touchstone Tarot for her card for the week, and her description of the card, which she posted in comments, really turned me onto it.
Touchstone Tarot is digital collage, and the book that accompanies the deck includes the painting sources for each card, so I looked online for the various images that went into the Eight of Wands (see below). This gave me an even deeper appreciation for Black’s talent.
Eight of Wands, Touchstone Tarot
The Cumaean Sibyl, Domenichino. Source for girl in Touchstone Tarot's Eight of Wands.
Here’s some interesting information on the Cumean Sibyl. (Mary Greer said something to the effect that one could get a complete liberal arts education by studying the tarot. Ain’t that a fact!)
An Extensive Landscape, Paul Bril. Source for landscape in Touchstone Tarot's Eight of Wands.
Cosimo il Vecchio, Jacopo Pontormo. Source for wand leaves in Touchstone Tarot.
St. Christopher, Vecellio Tiziano. Source for wands in Touchstone Tarot.
November 14, 2009 at 10:19 pm |
Oh cool! I didn’t know that the accompanying book divulged all the art sources. That makes this little art nerd very happy
What MK Greer says about tarot is precisely one of the main reasons why it has me firmly in its grip – an excuse to research all my favourite subjects and then have them presented visually? What’s NOT to become gently obsessed with? 
I find it very interesting that the feeling I got from the card in the “Choose Your Card” post was so in tune with the original painting: a Sibyl! She does indeed look like she’s experiencing divine inspiration. Much respect to Kat for not only composing a collage deck, but for executing it in such a way that the cards speak loud and clear, even if you don’t know it at the time. That’s talent!