The latest club offered through the Estevan Arts Council provides an opportunity for local residents to create artist trading cards (ATC).
The club held its first official session on Sunday afternoon at the arts council’s craft room. Audrey MacMurchy, who is the organizer for the club, said they work with cards that measure 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.
“We do whatever kind of art we want on them using any kind of medium that we want on them,” she said. “The cards that we finish, on the back, we have our name, our contact number, the name of our piece, if our piece is numbered, and we trade our cards.”
The cards can be swapped locally, but there are also Facebook groups where they can be exchanged nationally or even internationally. One stipulation is an artist can’t trade somebody else’s cards.
“You can keep your own artwork or you can give away,” said MacMurchy. “It’s just a good get together. It’s an opportunity to learn new techniques without having to buy a whole bunch of supplies and the things to go with them.”
These are very simple projects that can be done quickly, in anywhere from five minutes to an hour. In the case of Sunday’s session, they had a business meeting to start the three-hour gathering, and then dedicated the rest of the time to their work, which allowed each participant to make several cards.
“It’s your own personal expression in your art,” she said. “For me, it’s connection with other people just by being here in the club, but also in the trading of the cards, and the connection with other humans.”
Future plans include possibly having classes for children who are off school during a break from school and are looking for something artistic to do, and getting high school students involved with ATCs.
MacMurchy has done lots of craft activities, but has only done a couple of ATC sessions
Even though they met this past Sunday, their regular get-togethers will be the third Wednesday of every month, starting at 6:30 p.m. Participants will need to pre-register by contacting the arts council’s office.
The club will continue to accept members, and they don’t have a limit on the number of people they can accept.
