artist trading cards

I love Artist Trading Cards: tiny works of art that are traded amongst artists all over the world. I don’t know. I just love the IDEA of that — bold little works of art floating about in such a vulnerable form.

As their name suggests, ATC are collectables, much like older, sports-themed trading cards. Actually, one of the “rules” governing their exchange comes from their predecessors — the dimensions of the ATC must always be 2.5″x3.5.”

Artist Trading Cards are not sold, they are only exchanged. The idea is for artist to meet artist, exchange work, and be exposed to different styles. Conventions are actually held all over the world where artists can gather, meet, and exchange.

Here are some examples that struck me. I love the detail of them, the obvious care each artist took on such a small canvas. (sorry the images aren’t bigger — oh, and that I didn’t get the artists’ names. At the site I visited, they weren’t always listed):

I found so many I liked, I just may have to post more of these in the future!