It’s Sunday again, and while it’s not exactly raining like it was last week, we did have a few flurries overnight and today is very grey and foggy. The week seemed to roll by very quickly, as does every week lately, it seems. Perhaps it has to do with age, but also I’m thinking might be a side-effect of this Pandemic year. After 9 months of this ‘cocooning’, life has become ‘smaller’ than it used to be. We stay in our own little bubbles and pull life’s necessities in with us. It’s a little like living a “Miniaturized life”.
A couple days ago I got an email from a member of our local Art Society, wondering if members might be interested in creating and exchanging Artist Trading Cards. Not familiar with that term, I turned to Google and discovered a venue I had not been keeping track of! The cards are basically Miniature works of art traded with other artists.
The concept began almost by accident in 1997, when Swiss artist Vancie Stirneman created 1200 cards as part of an exhibit. On the final day he invited others to do their own cards and trade with him. That idea spawned a movement, and today artists all over the world are creating and trading these little cards!
There are only 2 rules when it comes to creating Artist Trading Cards …
1. Cards must be exactly 2.5” x 3.5” … the size of sports trading cards.
2. Artists must comply with Copyright Laws … as with any other work of art.
Initially the cards were destined for trading only - no money was to change hands. Entrepreneurship being what it is, however, it wasn’t long before someone saw a marketing opportunity and began offering the little cards for sale, and today there is a world-wide market for these Miniature paintings.
I am not new to painting Miniatures. A few years ago I did a series of Miniature oil paintings showing local scenes from the Tantramar Marsh, each one permanently mounted on a miniature easel for display. Each painting was 2.5” x 2.5” square, and created using VERY small brushes especially designed for the task. I sold all but two of them at the local Craft Gallery where I am a member. Then last month I had a request from a former customer wondering if I had any left, and she ended up purchasing the last two from that series.
Those were fun to do, but quite time-consuming when you consider all the ‘wait time’ involved when working with oils. I now plan to do another Miniature series next year, using faster-drying Acrylics instead of Oils, and I have a supply of mini stretched canvasses and easels just waiting to be pressed into service.
In the meantime I shall try my hand at these Miniature Artist Trading Cards, using Coloured Pencils. I designed a template to create a series of 6 cards on an 8.5 x 11” sheet of Bristol paper, and have the first sheet of paper affixed to the drawing board and gridded off with masking tape, just waiting for the first pencil strokes. My goal is to recreate portions of 6 paintings of local Marsh scenes which I have previously done in larger sizes. Next week they should be ready to show, at least partially completed.
Normally Coloured Pencil paintings are framed with glass to protect the surface, so I will need to devise some method to protect the unframed cards. I have a few ideas in mind, but more about that next week.
Till then, stay safe and enjoy art.
