Skip to main content

Crazy for Cards

Sketch and completed ATC with a Christmas theme ( watercolour and ink)  - copyright Wilma Simmons 
The current craze of card collecting amongst the youngest members of the family  is the World Explorer cards from  a supermarket giant. I am not promoting this, but  there is little wonder that curious kids would want  to collect this series of cards. 
I was thinking about card collecting yesterday, when my doll making group, Gumnut Dollies Newcastle  made some Artist Trading Cards (ATC) for a Christmas swap with a group in Queensland.  If you haven't heard of an ATC before , here is a Wiki explanation:
Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) is a conceptual art project initiated by the Swiss artist M. Vänçi Stirnemann in 1997. He called it a Collaborative Cultural Performance. Artist Trading Cards are 2
 12 by 3 12 inches (64 mm × 89 mm) in size, the same format as modern trading cards (hockey cards or baseball cards). They are self-made unique works or small series, signed and dated on the reverse by the artist/producer, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_trading_cards)
ATCs created by members of Gumnut Dollies Newcastle - 12 November 2016 
ATCs are not sold but are a free exchange between artist participants . A commercial offshoot began in 2004 on eBay to allow for  the selling and buying of artist cards. To avoid conflict with the original ATC concept , these cards were called Art Cards, Editions and Originals ( ACEO). ATC collections are often shown in  special exhibitions ( most often followed by a free trading session)  ACEOs are sold on auction sites, for private collections or for publication tutorials - same thing, different purpose!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Stitched Gardens and Magpies

  Magpies are always around  in our garden , strutting, poking about for insects and having a splash in the birdbath.  They often call if the water is at a low level in the birdbath until one of us replenishes the water supply. It is no coincidence then that they have figured prominently as part of  recent little works in the stitched garden series.  I also like to include human figures in my gardens, especially taken from old photos of family members. This "impressionist ' stitched garden features  my husband's great aunt,  Sarah Ann Bath.  I like to think of her in this abundant garden , when in reality,  she grew up  in the early 1900s in rather cramped living conditions in Birmingham UK  See more and read more about my stitched gardens - other posts:  How does your garden grow with stitch?  How does your garden grow with crayons? 

Entomological Elements - Mixed Media Sculpture

Entomological Elements hung in Timeless Textiles Gallery.  My latest big piece of work is "Entomological Elements" - let's call it EE ... It is a mixed media sculpture in response to the theme "Elements" for a current exhibition by the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists. If you a regular reader of this blog or and Empress Wu Designs Facebook follower, you probably know that my thing is "stick dolls".... dolls made with sticks. EE is just an extension of those , with a piece of local driftwood as its base. EE is also   a celebration of the natural elements depicted by insects from different parts of the world.   EARTH - Common Black Ground Beetle ( Pterostichus melanarius ) - Europe/Eurasia AIR - Blue Ulysses Butterfly ( Papilio Ulysses ) - Australia WATER - Golden winged skimmer dragonfly ( Libellula auripennis ) - Central/North America FIRE - Scarlet Fire Beetle ( Pyrochroa coccinea )- Europe Common Black ...

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...