Magic By The Bird House — Original ACEO Art Card

Almost nothing in this birdhouse art card is the colour it ought to be. That was the idea.

A dark birdhouse sits high on the trunk, and everything around it went somewhere else.

The trunk went pink. The woods came out green and gold, with small cottony clouds stacked between the branches. Down at the bottom, the ground turned yellow and red. Only the birdhouse stayed dark and plain, so your eye lands there first.

I did that on purpose. A late spring afternoon does not really look like this, but it feels like this — warm, loud, and slightly too much to take in at once.

H2: Size, materials and shipping

This birdhouse art card is an ACEO, so it measures 3.5 by 2.5 inches exactly. I used acrylic, then sealed it with gloss varnish once the paint had dried. The varnish keeps the colour bright, and it lets you wipe dust off without lifting anything.

I signed the back. Then the card goes into a clear sleeve and ships inside a rigid mailer, so it cannot bend on the way to you.

H2: Why artists paint this small

An ACEO is an Art Card, Edition or Original. Every one uses the same fixed measurements, and that rule is the entire point of the format. Because the cards all match, collectors store them together and swap them easily. Framing stays simple too, because you never need a custom mount.

Mine are always originals rather than prints. So this is the only birdhouse art card like it, and once it sells that is genuinely the end of it.

H2: If you like the birds

Midnight Hummingbird is painted on the same size card, though it went somewhere much darker. I paint all of these at home in Raleigh, North Carolina.

H2: Framing a card this size

Framing stays easy because the measurements never change. Any ACEO sleeve, mount or mini frame will take it without adjustment. I would keep it off a windowsill that catches full afternoon sun, though. That advice holds for any acrylic work on paper, not just mine.

I film a lot of this work while it happens. If you want to see how a card like this gets built up layer by layer, the process videos live on my YouTube channel.