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Limited edition Artwork Tarots No 4. The Sylph Tarot   This tarot deck by the American artist Tyran Grillo is beautifully created in detailed pencil drawings. The use of pencil allows wonderful soft textures with none of the hard lines familiar in pen drawing. The subject is butterflies, and here Tyran Grillo opts for exact anatomically correct imagery, rather than some stylised or romanticised forms. Each card is associated with a particular species of butterfly (Sylph being the Greek word for 'butterfly'). These butterfly drawings are embedded within a context of imagery chosen to be entirely appropriate to the tarot card archetype. In the Fool card, here renamed as 'The Innocent', we see the butterfly Agraulis vanillae (the Gulf Fritillary) emerging from its pupa, its wings still not fully deployed. The Empress card shows us Greta diaphana (a Jamaican butterfly) depositing eggs, it being entirely appropriate for an Empress to be perpetuating her species. This set of card designs is deeply thought out and the symbolism carefully chosen. It is thus a truly delightful artwork.22 Major arcana deck. Card size 4.6 by 2.8 inches (117 by 71mm). Signed and numbered by the artist. Available now ! The retail price is £40 ($75). These prices include air mail postage 22 card deck, standard size (118 x70mm) in rigid box.
 
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