The ATC Dilemma
Back in January I was inspired by the Japanese legend of a thousand cranes and my love of cards to commit to a creative project for 2012: use as many artistic skills and techniques as I could to make one thousand artist trading cards before December 31st.
This idea was a bit more ambitious than my last year-long art project back in 2009, when I pledged to take at least one photo of something ineresting every day. I wasn't sure I could keep up, but over the last four months I've been working steadily and posting to the photoblog pics and monthly updates on the project. I'm more than a third of the way toward my goal; as of tonight I have 342 cards finished.
Actually the project has been a blast. I'm trying all sorts of old and new techniques, and I've already sewn, quilted, sculpted, glued, recycled, painted, photographed, beaded, pressed, sketched, written, hammered, woven and/or assembled 342 cards. Because the cards are small (ATCs are 2.5" X 3.5"), and I'm always doing something different with them, I haven't gotten bored. If anything I could probably make five thousand ATCs.
Over the weekend I put the cards I made in April into the desk-size storage chest where I'm keeping all the finished cards, and I realized two things. One is that the chest already is getting pretty full:
The other thing is -- after I've finished the project -- what the heck am I going to do with a thousand ATCs?
Yes, as it happens I didn't think that far ahead. I could keep them, of course, but the whole idea of Artist Trading Cards is to give them out, usually by trading with another artist. Only I don't know a thousand artists. I don't want to sell them or auction them off because I'm doing it for fun, and art-wise I'm strictly an amateur anyway. For various reasons a few of the cards are too personal to give away, so I will be keeping those, but the rest I'd like to send out into the world somehow.
Considering all of the above, what do you think I should do with the cards I am willing to part with? Let me know in comments.
This idea was a bit more ambitious than my last year-long art project back in 2009, when I pledged to take at least one photo of something ineresting every day. I wasn't sure I could keep up, but over the last four months I've been working steadily and posting to the photoblog pics and monthly updates on the project. I'm more than a third of the way toward my goal; as of tonight I have 342 cards finished.
Actually the project has been a blast. I'm trying all sorts of old and new techniques, and I've already sewn, quilted, sculpted, glued, recycled, painted, photographed, beaded, pressed, sketched, written, hammered, woven and/or assembled 342 cards. Because the cards are small (ATCs are 2.5" X 3.5"), and I'm always doing something different with them, I haven't gotten bored. If anything I could probably make five thousand ATCs.
Over the weekend I put the cards I made in April into the desk-size storage chest where I'm keeping all the finished cards, and I realized two things. One is that the chest already is getting pretty full:
The other thing is -- after I've finished the project -- what the heck am I going to do with a thousand ATCs?
Yes, as it happens I didn't think that far ahead. I could keep them, of course, but the whole idea of Artist Trading Cards is to give them out, usually by trading with another artist. Only I don't know a thousand artists. I don't want to sell them or auction them off because I'm doing it for fun, and art-wise I'm strictly an amateur anyway. For various reasons a few of the cards are too personal to give away, so I will be keeping those, but the rest I'd like to send out into the world somehow.
Considering all of the above, what do you think I should do with the cards I am willing to part with? Let me know in comments.
No comments have been added yet.
S.L. Viehl's Blog
- S.L. Viehl's profile
- 224 followers
S.L. Viehl isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
