"Slices of Art"

The Salem Gazette ran a great article about local artist Jeff Bowie, who owns The Picklepot, and Artist Trading Cards - which sound very cool. Check out the article below, and visit The Picklepot on Washington Street to find really great art, jewelry, beads, and conversation!

Slices of art: For these creators, it's the little things that count
By Wendy Snow-Lang/Art of Salem
Sun Mar 09, 2008

Salem - “Artist Trading Cards.” What the heck are those? Think of baseball cards, or a deck of playing cards. Officially, 2 1/2-by-3 1/2 inches in dimension, usually with a stick of stale bubble gum included.

Now think of that same piece of card with a miniature work of art hand-created on it. And free! (But without the bubble gum.)

Let me explain: In 1997, it is rumored, an M. Vanci Sternimann in Switzerland began trading sessions of miniature works of art with other artists. This form of artistic expression has been traced back to the Impressionists of the late 1800s as one of their forms of hand-created business card. I

n Salem today, Jennifer “Jeff” Bowie, owner of Picklepot: A Contemporary New England Craft Gallery on Washington Street, has continued this artistic tradition. She hosts monthly meetings at her store on the first Wednesday of the month. The cost is $10 per session for use of her space and her tools, and usually there are themes.

Provide your own 2 1/2-by-3 1/2 pieces of board, whether paper, cardboard, wood, metal, plastic or other. Or use old baseball cards, or an incomplete playing deck. Or use whatever Jeff has in store. You can create them by yourself, or with others.

You can join the many Internet groups devoted to Artist Trading Cards, or go on your own. Artist Trading Cards are never expected to take more than 10 minutes to complete, though you can take much longer if the Muse hits you. But there is no payment, so how much time do you want to devote to the creation of a card? The point is to have fun, to be creative!

Cards can be crude or refined. They can be anything that suits the fancy at the time of creation. Card artists tend to be gatherers. They collect “stuff.” The stuff they collect can be anything: bits of colored paper, magazine images, children’s stickers, pieces of shell, strands of wire or thread, pieces of lace —anything that catches the imagination. Glue or trace or draw or paint these things onto a piece of paper or board that’s 2 1/2-by-3 1/2 inches, and you’re good to go — start trading.

How do you trade? Many online groups exist. Start at Yahoo Groups. Jeff Bowie started an online group Monday night called NorthShoreATC. She also told me of ArtistTradingCards and ATC_World on Yahoo Groups. Go to Yahoo.com, then click on Groups in the left-hand column and type in the above names.

The group that physically meets at the Picklepot once a month consists of about eight people. A theme is usually picked for the meeting, sometimes revolving around that month’s major holiday. Jeff showed me a loose-leaf binder she has filled almost to bursting of cards she has traded or created since last September, when she first started her trading card group.

Many of the cards she owns are from around the country. I saw addresses from California, Florida and Ohio. And this was a small sampling from what I saw. On other cards, there is no clue as to where they came from; one day an envelope will arrive at your doorstep with a group of cards enclosed. You have just “traded” with someone out there in the country. You are not required to, but are expected to, by courtesy, send some of your own to the sender.

Many of the cards Jeff showed me from her loose-leaf binder were cutesy and amateur; others were miniature works of art. Jeff says she likes to create her cards while watching TV at night. Often the backs of the cards are as impressive as the fronts. Many card artists have their own stamps made with their name or logo and space to fill in details like card title, date, theme, etc.

Most cards are “expected” to fit into standard baseball trading card binder pages, but some creators can go wild and make 3-D cards that won’t fit into them. Some make their cards out of metal or wood. Pottery has not been left out, either. I haven’t heard of any cards that can be eaten, as in made out of dough, but I’d bet someone has done that! Artist Trading Card Cookies!

Since I come from a more “mercenary” background of art, in which I create paintings in the hopes to sell them; the idea of just “giving away” art I create is rather foreign to me. Which is why I found this subject so intriguing. It’s a great way to “get your feet wet,” as it were, into the art field, if you are so inclined.

And you may be, so I would suggest a visit to the Picklepot, 143 Washington St., or NorthShoreATC@yahoogroups, or any of the other online groups I mentioned above.

You may find yourself a new, creative calling, and many new friends!

Wendy Snow-Lang is the owner of the Art Corner and the author and illustrator of a published comic book, “Night’s Children.” She is the moderator of the North Shore Writers Group, which meets every other Wednesday night at the Art Corner. Wendy is a founding member of the new Salem Arts Association, which is dedicated to preserving and enhancing the arts in Salem and on the North Shore. Call her at 978-745-9524 if you are interested in the writers group or the arts association. You can also contact Wendy if you are a Salem artist or art venue of any sort and are having an exhibit, so she can send out one of her Art Press Corp Reporters to cover your event.