Artist Trading Cards
Artist trading cards (ATC) are miniature works of art limited to the size of a baseball or collectible card: 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches. The idea behind the cards is to create transferrable works of art that artists could trade with one another. They are not business cards, more like collectible cards. Often the cards are one of a kind or created as a small batch for trades. The general feeling is that this is a way for people to connect over their interest and creativity. Most artists will not sell ATCs but are happy to trade with others. Collectors are generally other artists who have met or at least corresponed with others.
More information on ATCs can be found online at:
Nervousness
I created ATCs as part of the Nervousness community. There was frantic activity on this site in the early 2000s with several trades happening a month. This was a great way to meet other artists and see what others were doing. It was also a challenge to work on such a small canvas. Most of the ATCs I have images of are my Robots I have Known Series.
Robots I Have Known
The idea behind this series of ATCs was to create a roster of people I grew up with, worked with, went to school with, or knew personally. These people were the basis for the cards. Each card had a woodcut of a robot (one of two designs) that I painted and decorated to be unique from the other robots. Some robots had unique patterns, others a different color variation. Instead of a sports teams roster, I wanted to create a roster of people I actually knew. I've added as many of the cards as I could find to the site. The original series had about 70 cards created before I stopped working and trading ATCs.
