Monday’s art class was all about ATCs and ACEOs, including their history and commercial prospects. Elizabeth has since launched into full entrepreneurial mode and asked me to begin a section for her to list her artworks on my Etsy shop: Art by Elizabeth. She will be in charge of creating, pricing, and shipping, while I will provide the artist’s materials, the listing space, and general supervision. She’s hoping to earn a bit of money towards her upcoming summer adventures, not the least of which is a trip to American Girl Place in Chicago. The ACEO pictured above is titled Mermaids Playing… isn’t it cute?!
Though art miniatures have been around for ages, the current ATC (Artist Trading Card) frenzy was born in Switzerland in 1997. There are just 2 rules for ATCs: they must measure 2.5 X 3.5, which is the size of a standard baseball trading card, and can never be sold. A complete (and interesting!) summary of ATCs can be found here.
ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) are basically ATCs that are for sale. An ACEO must stick to the required size but can be a print of an original, either numbered as part of a limited print run (limited edition) or re-printed without limit (open edition). Of course, they can be originals, too. I’ve seen original ACEOs selling for hundreds of dollars, though most seem to sell in the $5-$15 range. Elizabeth is selling hers for $1.50-2.00 :)
BTW, David Cook completely rocks.
