ACEOs

I recently discovered "ACEOs". These are an offshoot of "ATCs" (Artist Trading Cards) and stands for "Art Cards, Editions & Originals". The difference is that ATCs are based on an old tradition of artists exchanging original cards with one another and they are never made for sale. Rather, they are given to other artists as a representation of their personal work. BUT. One innovative artist, Lisa Luree, known as Bone Diva on ebay, started a movement in 2004 to sell ATCs. That required separating from the purist "trading" group and ACEOs were born. Today, more than 3000 artists list ACEOs on ebay. I am about to become one of that number.

For the past week and a half, I've been researching ACEOs and what it takes to make them. First, they are a specified size - 2.5" by 3.5". Other than that, there are no rules. They can - and are - made of anything an artist can conceive of.

Me - I'm just sticking with what I know, and that is painting. There are a lot of BAD ACEOs out there. When I see good ones, I see that they sell. People love to collect real art and this is an amazing venue for small scale, affordable, real art that you can collect and own. What is not to love about that?

My first series is a group of lemons.


and then there are some onions and some sushi - which was remarkably hard not to eat while sketching!


and flowers, of course.

It has been quite a process figuring out how these things are made. First, you paint on good watercolor paper. Then you mount the small painting to acid-free cardstock. The piece gets trimmed and a label with all the relevant info gets attached to the back. A real signature on the back along with real initials on the front completes the piece.

Now, I will list these on ebay when time permits. Hopefully I will sell this first batch and recoup my investment! Other artists can probably relate to my dilemma - I get so interested in new projects that I spend what I might have made upfront just getting involved! Yikes! Hopefully, ACEOs is a hobby that will pay for itself...