Share Your Faith with ATCs

In recent years, a new trend has developed in the art world, specifically (but not exclusively) in relation to amateur artists. The trend pertains to an art format known as ATCs (Artist Trading Cards). Here are links to some web pages pertaining to the trend:

http://www.atcswap.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_trading_cards
http://www.ebsqart.com/ArtMagazine/za_321.htm
http://strathmoreartist.com/atc.php

ATCs seem to serve as social "glue" for like-minded people interested in the arts, since the "rules of the game" preclude buying and selling such cards.

Nevertheless, any time people meet together, whether the meeting takes place in a physical or virtual space, it's likely that some of the participants will have ulterior motives, in addition to the obvious desire to socialize with other people. That's not necessarily a bad thing. There's no reason why people can't mix business with pleasure, provided that it isn't done in an obnoxious manner.

Even though many ATC artists are amateurs, one possible motive for being involved with the world of ATCs is to enable professional artists to publicize their work by handing out "freebies" which have the effect of drawing attention to the work they offer for sale. For years, restaurants have known the value of handing out free samples. Conceptually speaking, this is no different. Of course, the value of ATC freebies would hinge, in part, on the extent to which they help artists to publicize websites which contain information about their larger works of art which are for sale. (ATC-sized miniatures can also be sold, of course, but then they aren't technically known as Artist Trading Cards, they're known as ACEOs, a/k/a Art Cards, Editions and Originals.) It would certainly be smart to include the artist's web address and e-mail address on the back of each card, in addition to the title of the piece and other basic information.

Another possible motive for participating in the world of ATCs might be to facilitate particular types of social interactions. Specifically, I'm thinking of the fact that most ATC artists seem to be women. But there's no rule which says that they have to be women. In fact, the person who started the ATC trend, M. Vanci Stirnemann, was a man. I have no idea whether or not he was "straight," but it seems to me that savvy heterosexual guys looking for great opportunities to meet a lot of women might want to look into the possibility of attending ATC swap meets (as participants, of course). I'm at a point in my own life where my chances of meeting any attractive and eligible mates have significantly diminished, but I don't like to rule anything out 100%. You never know, I might meet the Christian woman of my dreams at an ATC swap meet (even though I haven't really tried this idea out yet). Hey, if you want to catch fish, go where the fish are. If you want to meet eligible women, go where there are likely to be lots of women. That's just common sense.

As I was looking through a book about ATCs, it also occurred to me that the standard dimensions of ATCs seem fairly similar to the dimensions of traditional gospel tracts. I also noticed, in that book by a woman named Bernie Berlin, that she showed some hinged diptych arrangements which apparently were still considered to be ATCs, and which could potentially contain more information than a standard ATC. And that got me to thinking about the fact that there are very few rules where ATCs are concerned, in terms of content. Some of the ATC designs I've seen have included text as part of the design. So why not create ATCs which serve as miniature gospel tracts? One would want to include artistic elements, of course, but there's no reason why such cards can't include Christian messages and/or Christian imagery as a means of stimulating conversations about God. Such cards could also include information (on the backs of such cards) which would lead people to the artists' blogs or websites, where they could then learn more about the Christian beliefs of the artists who created those cards. And it isn't as if the cards are likely to be thrown in the trash, the way that gospel tracts often are. After all, these swap meets are set up deliberately for the purpose of giving and receiving such materials.

Strathmore now sells small pieces of various art papers (and even canvas) for the purpose of creating ATCs. Ampersand Art also sells ATC-sized "Stampbord" which could be used for creating especially nice ATCs. the 2.5 x 3.5 pieces of Stampbord would probably be hard to create by hand, but there's no reason why larger pieces of paper and card stock (e.g., Bristol Board) and canvas couldn't be cut to size, even after they'd already been printed. From the standpoint of economics, that would seem to make more sense. (I've compared prices, and the Strathmore ATC pieces are much more expensive on a price-per-square-inch basis than comparable materials in larger sizes.)

Using Photoshop, an artist could create one-of-a-kind pieces which would combine original art, original photography, copyright-free imagery (e.g., from Dover Publications) and text which would stimulate recipients to look at Christianity in a new and more positive light. At least, that's my suggestion, for what it's worth, for Christian believers who want to use the arts as a means of sharing their faith.