My Beautiful friend, Etsy user echoart, was phenominal enough to write about herself and share her wonderful art with my blog readers & explain the beauty & creativity involved in mixed media ACEO's. I first met echoart on eBay, and we migrated to etsy about the same time. Her art is truly inspirational to me.
Echoart's words~
I have a passion for collecting assorted bits of ephemera, mostly vintage (usually from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s), and recombining them to create something new. The juxtaposition of initially unrelated items is exciting to me, as I see the new ways in which those items interact, the new ideas they bring forth when combined. I am a poet, and I find that the idea in poetry of “disparate ideas yoked together” also holds true regarding my collage and mixed media ACEOs, as well as larger pieces.The inspiration for this particular ACEO, titled “a more blissful life”, was my longing for a life in which I can actually “follow my bliss”, as mythologist Joseph Campbell famously philosophized. We all have days (weeks, months, years) when we must simply put our hearts and minds to the business of slogging from day to day, without being able to focus on the goals we truly wish to achieve. This ACEO was my way of reminding myself that the life I want might be just beyond the next door, beyond my next effort – that attaining the life I desire is possible.As with most of my ACEOs, I spread out all the pieces of ephemera in my collection and waited to see what would call to me to be used in this piece. As it happens, “a more blissful life” features mostly more modern bits of ephemera. The background shrubbery image and the text came from a discarded fashion magazine, and the red door was originally part of a photo of an armoire in a discarded design magazine. I cut the twig with three green leaves from a roll of wallpaper I purchased at one of my local thrift shops. I layered the images used in this ACEO, as I do with all of my ACEOs, using Mod Podge. Once a given ACEO is complete, I coat it with a few layers of varnish to seal it – usually matte varnish, sometimes glossy, depending on the feel of the piece. For “a more blissful life”, I used glossy varnish, to emphasize this ACEO’s inherent optimism.“ACEO” stands for “Art Cards, Editions and Originals”. The only requirement for creating an ACEO is that it must measure 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. ACEOs may be created using any medium and materials an artist desires; my own preference is to make ACEOs via collage and mixed media. Initially these small creations were called “ATCs”, or “Artist Trading Cards” – artists made prints of their art, measuring the standard 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, and both traded them with each other and sent them to galleries to introduce them to their work. Once artists realized that people wanted to own these small versions of their work, some began creating them specifically for that purpose, and the ACEO market was established. Personally, I find that ACEOs are a wonderful way to create small pieces of affordable art – to my mind, they are very much like visual haiku.
Echoart's Art Cards, editions & originals~Beautiful Vintage~Collage~Assemblage
'Tis truly a treat to visit her shoppe.
'A More Blissful Life' available:
Thank you so much to my friend echoart and just a big hug to her for her patience in letting me get this blog entry up & running. I enjoy our convo's, they brighten my day, ~Lisa
Hmmm let's TEST my comment glitch...
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