What the heck are ATCs anyway?

Artist trading cards (ATCs) are miniature works of art!  They are about the same size as modern baseball cards, or 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm).  They are small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets and they can be created with any material imaginable. Some cards are produced in editions (a limited number of the same card), some in series (a set of cards with a unifying theme), and some are singular originals.


An offshoot of ATCs are the "Art Cards, Editions and Originals" also known as ACEO. ACEOs originated when some artists began to create cards to sell, and/or trading among themselves.


Here is an example of how popular these little cards have become...


This week on August 11, the Confederation Center of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island is holding it's fifth annual Artist Trading Card event!  It's Fifth!  There are more than 60 artists from all over the maritimes participating!  There will be local artists to Prince Edward Island as well as artists from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario.


The event starts at 7 p.m. in Memorial Hall as part of the Thursday in the Gallery series. This year's submissions include a wide variety of techniques including linocuts, watercolours, collage, and mixed media creations.


I am not able to attend, but I'll give you a sneak peek of the card I submitted:

It's called "I Believe, I Wish"  The original painting is watercolor and acrylic on 140 lb watercolor paper. I love how this image turned out.  I submitted signed, limited edition prints of this painting.  What do you think?


I have created several ATC and ACEOs and they do seem to be quite popular.  If you are an artist, leave a comment, and share your experiences with Art Trading Cards and ACEO's.  Do you find they are popular as well?  And do you sell them or use them primarily for trading with other artists?  Do you use prints or originals or both?  

Latest Painting, Mixed Media Abstract

Yesterday, I said to my oldest son, "watch this..."  I brought my newly completed painting to my yountest son, who is 6 and a half.  "What do you think of this, Ethan?" I asked, expecting for certain that he would make a screwed up face and say something like, "weird" or just simply shake his head at me.

What I got was the complete opposite...His eyes popped, his arms flew up in the air with the exclamation, "I LOVE IT!!!!  That is soooooo beautiful, Mom!  I can't believe you made that, WOW!!!!"   Kids never cease to amaze me, and as I learned for myself, you just never know what reaction you are going to get!

You can click on the image to see more views of this painting on my Artfire site.