TaRat

Nakisha VanderHoeven paints white rats as the tarot's whole cast, watercolor-soft, originally miniature, in the same key as her Rabbit Tarot, and the TaRat's cuteness is honestly declared novelty with craft underneath. Single-species decks live or die on whether the animal can carry the offices, and the rat, clever, social, resourceful, unfairly maligned, turns out to be a better Fool, Magician and Wheel-turner than its reputation admits; rat people have known this all along. VanderHoeven's small-press practice, one artist, small editions, species by species, belongs to the indie tradition's gentlest wing, and the mini-to-standard reissue the review notes tracks a following that outgrew the first print run. It suits rat and rodent people without qualification, VanderHoeven's collectors completing the warren, miniature-deck enthusiasts, and readers who like their novelty decks painted with actual affection. The rodent-averse are excused, wrongly, but excused; the rats, being rats, will manage.