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Artist Trading Card Workshop by Bernie Berlin Baseball cards, Pokemon cards, Yu-Gi-Oh cards-kids love collecting and swapping trading cards. What if the cards they traded were pieces of art they made themselves? That's the idea behind Artist Trading Cards, original works of art the same size as hockey trading cards, 2-1/2" x 3-1/2". It's not just kids, though, who are involved in this growing phenomenon. Artists and craftspeople of all ages and backgrounds have embraced a movement that emphasizes the communal, social aspect of art and de-emphasizes the idea of art as commodity. The idea began in May of 1997 when Swiss artist M. Vänci Stirnemann, together with artists Cat Schick and Gido Dietrich, held a gallery showing of 1200 miniature works of art. Attendees were told that if they wanted to acquire one of these artist cards, they should bring in their own original work to trade for it. This became the principle tenet of the Artist Trading Card (ATC) movement-that cards should always be traded, never sold. One attendee of the show, Don Mabie, was so intrigued by the idea of artists sharing their work this way that he organized the first North American trading session at the New Gallery in Calgary, Alberta. Since that first exhibit, in-person trading events have been organized across Canada and the United States. In addition to live trading, the Internet has made it possible for individuals to trade with artists they've never met. One of the online spaces that provides more information and trading opportunities is the Artist Trading Card Yahoo Group, which happens to be founded by Bernadette Berlin, mixed-media artist and the author of Artist Trading Card Workshop, the first published guide to this worldwide movement. In her beautifully illustrated book, Berlin presents 25 specific, mixed-media techniques for creating incredibly artistic cards to trade. Each of the techniques is demonstrated with step-by-step photography, and photos of actual artist trading cards show the inspiring results. In fact, the gallery of ATCs alone is worth the price of the book. The works of sixty accomplished artists grace these lavishly designed pages. The techniques range from simple to more sophisticated and any of them could be applied to other artistic endeavors including altered books, collages or card making. Leafing Pen Resist, Inky Layers, Dimensional Resin and Intuitive Watercolor are just some of the techniques that Berlin explores. The book closes with ideas for card storage, tips on trading, a list of resources, and contact information for the featured artists. If you're brand new to the ATC movement or if you've already been creating ATCs but need some fresh inspiration for this or any other artistic medium, Artist Trading Card Workshop will not disappoint.
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