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Altered art
Altered Art
Altered Art is a creative process that is becoming increasingly popular. Different artists interpret this style in a myriad of ways. The general opinion of what fits into this category is that it is the process of altering or combining existing items or pieces of art to produce something new. It also encompasses the process of taking an ordinary object and altering it and making it into a piece of art. It is great fun to do and can produce wonderfully unique items. The great thing about Altered Art is that it is something that anyone can have a got at. Whatever your skill level you can just throw yourself in and have fun. You just need to start looking at everyday items and thinking what you can do to them to make them a ‘work of art’. Anything has the potential to be ‘Altered Art’.
Altered Art quite often crosses over into the area of ‘mixed media’ this is where more than one type of material is used to produce a piece.
A lot of Altered Art seems to have a similar feel and style. There tends to be an antique, worn feel to Altered Art pieces. Distressing is a very popular technique. Various other techniques used are rubber stamping, painting, collage, adding 3d items in fact anything you feel like having a go at is fine in this field.
The list of items that are regularly used for ‘altering’ is endless but here is a list of the most popular.
Bamboo tiles
Books
Board books
Boxes
CD cases
Cigar boxes
Clipboards
Dominoes
Glass bottles
Matchboxes
Metal Lunchboxes
Microscope slides, slide mailers and mounts
Photographs and postcards
Playing cards
Tins
One of the most heard names in the craft of Altered Art is Tim Holtz. He has a large range of wonderful art products that are produced specifically with Altered Art techniques in mind. They are available from most Arts and Crafts stores. He has numerous ‘how to’ videos freely available on the internet as well.
Materials Needed
Scissors
The correct adhesive for the surface you have chosen
Scrapbook papers
Vintage papers
Rubber Stamps and inks
Rub-ons
Paints
Embellishments
Eyelets and an Eyelet Setter
Varnish if you want to seal the finished product
The list is endless and can be as long or as short as you would like. There are really no boundaries in this craft!
One art form that fits quite nicely into this category is the growing craze of Artist Trading Cards or ATCs as they are often referred to. These are little works of art that artists all over the world are making and swapping. The rules are that they must be 2 ½ “x 3 ½ “in size and must be traded NOT sold. These are great fun and can utilize a large number of different art and craft techniques, such as collage, rubber stamping, painting, embroidery, fabric, photography, painting etc. This is a concept that was first used by a Swiss Artist Vanci Stirnemann. He produced an exhibition of 1200 of these cards and people were invited to take in one of their own and trade for one of his at the end of the exhibition. This idea then spread rapidly over the globe and is now an excepted art form of its own. If you want to join an Artist Trading Card swap there are plenty that are arranged on the internet all the time.
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