Five of Pentacles, Bohemian Gothic Tarot

So, a card, the Five of Pentacles which is one that I always feel needs care. All comments - positive and negative and "not sure" - very welcome, but any specific proffered design solutions will probably not be acted on as we ideally want to hear issues not solutions if possible. Oh, okay, I sound like "Design Management 101" and the truth is we probably won't change much of anything to be honest, but knowing that, please do still comment if you'd like to. By the way, I have lightened this card considerably to show on screen as there is a real issue with the way the cards come out very, very dark on screen (they will look different when they are printed in CMYK). At least this way you can actually see some of the details.

Okay - the history! The House at the Two Golden Bears

I feel shamed into actually finding out more about The House at the Two Golden Bears (in my defence I am up to my ears in Victorian Gothica right now, though I suppose that's a poor excuse.) so here is an article. The house is described as "Baroque" but like so many houses here, I'd guess it's originally much earlier. Our house is 14th century but makes a very good job of looking 1930s modernist - someone's idea of stylish no doubt. Anyway, here is the whole story - okay, a very little bit of it - of the possible link with alchemy. I should add that I don't find the explanation of the bears at all convincing, but that's another conversation I suppose.

Doors of Prague - from inside!

If you remember the (medieval) house with the amazing Renaissance door (edited - thanks for catching it - see below) with the bears (see below) you may be interested in what's inside. We were walking past on Monday and went in to take a look:
Detail of the archway above:
and stepping inside, here we're inside looking out:
these are the other doors you find in the courtyard/corridor (it's a bit of both) inside :

(don't you just love the doormat?)
A detail from the same door.

The Bohemian Gothic Tarot

I've decided that I won't post more cards over at Aeclectic Tarot Forum for now - it was fun and the enthusiasm and feedback was good to have - but in the end I found it just too time-consuming and tiring, and somehow it took away from my focus. I just need to concentrate on making the deck and book at this point rather than have to do too much explaining. But I'd still like to show just a few cards here from time to time. Reactions and comments very welcome, but please be aware that we probably won't launch into making any major changes or trying to please everyone. The deck just needs to be how it is, and I know that in some places it will be disturbing. This one probably still needs a bit of tweaking, but personally I'm pleased with it. If it was a film I'd go and see it!

Door HANDLES of Prague today

I'm in a mood for details, so here is a sample of Prague door handles. I've learned here that whenever you go into an old building it's essential to notice the handles. They often seem like a pure out-pouring of Czech surrealism at its best - and other times they are simply wonderfully Baroque and decorative. The final one here is, I think, my favourite.

Okay - the BIG Baroque birds

This is my very favourite door. I always imagine the conversation between the architect/sculptor and the owner: "So, I was thinking that two huge birds sort of having a conversation over the archway would look good." and the owner says, "Hmmm, well, er, hmmm. Okay." I will actually sort myself out to put some proper historical information about this door here later - until them you can imagine whatever you like! These doors always make me laugh, even on the days when I'm in a foul mood I can't walk past them without a giggle. Edited to add - another photo and a tiny bit of info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_of_Italy_in_Prague By the way, you need to get the scale of this. The "small" doors on the third picture are actually quite large - so the birds are GIGANTIC.

Okay - the BIG Baroque birds

This is my very favourite door. I always imagine the conversation between the architect/sculptor and the owner: "So, I was thinking that two huge birds sort of having a conversation over the archway would look good." and the owner says, "Hmmm, well, er, hmmm. Okay." I will actually sort myself out to put some proper historical information about this door here later - until them you can imagine whatever you like! These doors always make me laugh, even on the days when I'm in a foul mood I can't walk past them without a giggle. Edited to add - another photo and a tiny bit of info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_of_Italy_in_Prague By the way, you need to get the scale of this. The "small" doors on the third picture are actually quite large - so the birds are GIGANTIC.

Doors of the Day - slightly delayed

Sorry, I think it will have to be tomorrow. But I do have some more doors to post.

Doors of the Day

If these are too big please tell me and I'll put some under a cut.

Doors of Prague - part two

Sorry, feeling a bit virusy today - Alex is rather off-colour so I hope we aren't about to get summer colds or anything (yuck). So no "Big Baroque Birds" tonight as that requires quite a few files to give the sense of the sheer scale of it. Here instead are two doors - elements of both have been used on our decks (oh a thought, I could run a competition to ask people to identify the decks and cards that have elements from various photographs - hmm, might do that in the autumn, it would be fun). Anyway, enjoy these:
Modern door in ancient doorway - but then most of the wooden doors have probably been replaced about once a century after all, and this will soon darken down.
Marvelous door at the side of St Vitus Cathedral. Sadly taken away this year and replaced with a reproduction (well, I suppose they have to - otherwise it might be hard to protect it). Glad we got photos before it vanished into a museum.
Close-up - amazing isn't it?
One last one for today - "At the Sign of the Pink Swan". I would LOVE the door to my apartment house to look like that (apartment bells can be seen on the left). I'd probably never move.

Doors of Prague

At the risk of looking similar to one of those "doors of" posters (which, however, I have to say I sort of like), I thought I might post some of our photos of doors. We have SO many wonderful images, most of which never get into a card or book, so it's nice to show some here. It's still slightly amazing to me that we walk past things like this every day. The pictures are also a bit of an apology for not replying to all posts yet - just a lot going on and I need to catch up. It's not that I don't care!


If you like these, I'll try to post more at regular intervals this month. These are just drawn at random - the doors here are truly extraordinary.