What Are ACEOs?

New to ACEOs? Me, too. I only learned about them a year or so ago...and now am totally intrigued by these little works of art.

ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. Think baseball cards, only instead of teams and players, each card represents a piece of art. Many ACEOs are originals. That is, what you purchase or receive as a gift is the original piece of artwork and not a copy. There are some prints of intricate works that come as ACEOs...also lovely in their own right.

What makes an ACEO an ACEO is the size of the piece: 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches (6.4 centimeters by 8.9 centimeters). Until I started working with this format, I never realized how much space is actually on a card this size. There is plenty of room to explore and I find it a good venue to experiment with designs, colors and techniques.

ACEOs have grown in popularity over the past few years. They come in all kinds of mediums: oils, acrylics, watercolors, fabrics, clay, wood and other materials. Most of them are thin and can easily fit into a plastic protective pocket, but this is up to individual artists. I have seen ACEOs with buttons or beads and other embellishments. ACEOs can also be mounted and framed--just like traditional artwork.

Lately, I have fiddled with sewing cardstock with thread and love the texture. Samples are provided in the photos (above). I do, also, love little fabric art scenes and have gone on a ladybug jag. Upside down ladybugs. They make me laugh.

Oh...and one more thing about ACEOs. I think of them as "accessible" art. Though they can sell anywhere from $1 to over $200 (yup, there is some really intricate, imaginative and wonderful small art out there), most ACEOs are within the $5 to $25 range. Accessible to most budgets. Collectible. And Fun!

Cheers!--Janyce