Art. Cards. Frames.

I've been looking for a way to make small paintings more widely available, with a variety of display options. I think I have finally found a solution - art cards! But not quite the regular kind... you'll see why.

Rather than mounting a painting on paper onto a card base in the usual way - which would be to center it on the card front and let the image speak for itself - I wanted to experiment with a different look that was somewhere in between an old fashioned polaroid, a field specimen card with a hand-written label and a page from an art catalog. With just the bare essential details, and - dare I say - unashamed white space below. 

This approach leaves room for a little hand written "label" with details just underneath the artwork, while preserving some nice white space beneath for a clean, modern feel. I've always loved the breathing room that an extra large mat creates around the artwork, and this is a different way to capture some of that style.

The artwork itself is on textured art paper - either acrylic painting paper or watercolor paper depending on the medium I used. This is then mounted securely on a nice heavyweight (300GSM) card base. Everything is done by hand, so there will be slight variations in placement, which actually allows me to adjust positioning based on what works best for the piece. There will also be slight variations in the size of artwork itself between the different art cards, but I try to keep the sizes within a set the same or intentionally complementary. I also leave an even border around the top and sides of the artwork, with the information written just below the painting and a bit of that luxurious blank space below that.

This means that an A7 card - approximately 7 in tall x 5 in wide - can easily be popped into a standard (and commonly available) picture frame meant for 5 x 7 photos. The card itself will be side-folding and blank inside for a personalized message.

The smaller A2 card - approximately 5.5 in tall x 4.25 in wide - can also be displayed in an appropriate frame, or easily displayed on a tabletop or shelf with the card itself acting as a little built in easel simply because this card size is.... top-folding! Also blank inside to write your personalized message.

So what would you do with this? A few different things, actually.

Artwork in this first batch of cards are from different mini series of 2 to 6 pieces. Here are some very easy display ideas taking that into account:

• Display a matching set side by side in identical frames. Excellent décor idea for the home or office - and an easy way to create a balanced look and some organic symmetry.
• Keep one for yourself and mail the other one from the series to a friend or loved one - essentially the other "half" of the same art piece.
• Mail them to recipients who can easily frame them as a unique piece of artwork.
• Gift a set of cards to someone who loves art, décor, stationery or both! An easy, unique gift idea.

I'm very excited about this format and looking forward to being able to share these small original paintings on paper with as many collectors as possible. And if you need more pieces to change out the artwork seasonally or update a space every once in a while, just come back here for more!