Art or Craft? Original or Copy?

LuAnn's Highly Verbose "Craft vs. Art" ... um ... Article

When I do ATC workshops, I often differentiate between "crafty cards" and "art cards."

Does it really make a difference?
To some traders, no.
To me... YES.

Every person who creates is an artist. I've been an artist all my life. We are ALL artists when we make art. But as living human beings, we are influenced by the work of many, many other human beings. Most of us have seen thousands of works of art from the time we were old enough to notice art. We learn by imitation. We have been influenced by every piece of art we've ever encountered. When it comes to originality in art, there are just SO many shades of gray.

So let us think of the Art vs. Craft in terms of dark gray vs lighter grays. "Art" is the intense, deep gray. "Craft" is lighter.

Sometimes I make ATCs that are not really art. They are craft. When I cut up bits and pieces from a commercial pad of scrapbook paper, which was made for the "craft" market, I am making a card using a color scheme and images that were made by someone else. Yes, the composition of the final piece is mine. But the colors and images were made by someone else. I call this a "crafty" card. Is it still an ATC? Of course. Is it as valuable as a hand-drawn piece that I spent hours to make? Certainly NOT.

Craft

When I think of the word "Craft," I think of using a pattern, and following the directions to create something that another person designed.

Counted cross stitch is a good example of craft. Someone, often long ago, came up with the original design. They left behind an example, or a written pattern, or a file on the internet. Others can copy. Often, others make an exact copy. That is the craftiest of craft: copying the work of someone else to make an identical piece.

Artistic Craft?

In 2022, I designed a little needlework tree for Christmas. People have stitched cross stitch pines for years, so this is certainly not the most original ATC ever. But I made my own chart, and often, as I stitched a second or third or fourth ATC, I made unintentional changes.

When trading an ATC such as this one, I think it is important to tell the other person that the card they are receiving is part of a series. They will not have the only ATC that looks like this!

Crafty Art?

This ATC uses a needlework technique called "couching." For this piece, I was drawing.... with yarn. The design is totally original. No pattern was used.

I have stitched similar cards since I first stitched the tree in 2020. Each is a little bit different, but it is still a series card.

I usually remember to tell people that "I have stitched variations of this card before..." And once I had photographs of two different tree ATCs and deleted the wrong photo from my "available" folder. I needed to send an apology. (I am STILL sorry, Ruth.)

Women's Craft/Men's Art?

"Dancer, One Strand" was stitched in December 2025.

I had one piece of lovely variegated purple/pink yarn, and I just started attaching it to a piece of white felt. It wasn't really planned at all. If I had been thinking straight, I would have used a piece of WOOL for the backing. (I'm a bit of a needlework snob. )

Many articles have been written about "Women's Craft" versus "Men's Art."

Needlework is a "low" craft, done by women. Oil painting is "high" art, done by men.

My feelings about this? They are hard to explain. I personally thing the world's entire system of values is skewed rather badly. We shall not go there now.

Back to ATCs. It all comes down to originality. When I do ATC workshops, I do stress that there is a difference between a "crafty" card and an "art" card. I no longer trade for crafty cards, but I do encourage workshop participants to make crafty cards if the process brings them joy.

And THAT is what ATCs (and ART) are all about!

I hope that my web site inspires you to make ATC ART. And I hope that brings you joy.

Using Google Image Search to Determine Originality

I often use Google Image Search to see if an ATC offered online is really original. When I wrote a little post about this, some people criticized me for being too judgmental.

It IS a bit of a pet peeve of mine. There are some ATC artists who post absolutely lovely cards, often. These cards are much admired, and trade quickly. But when I do a search for similar images, I see that the image is all over the internet. If an image is already "all over the internet," I don't need to trade for it. I'll make my own.

On the other hand, if someone posts a card and says, "I got the idea for this card from a Pinterest post, but I could not find the original source," I will consider that credit has been given. I will still make an offer for that card.

I still have one card that I drew (and traded) and I could not find the screenshot that inspired me to draw the card. I spent HOURS looking through the "INSPIRATION" folder on my iMac, but never found the source. It still bothers me. And if I ever find that screenshot, I will send a little label that has a credit line, and ask Kelly to attach it to the back of "In the Forest."

Can I Copy Someone Else's ATC and Then Trade It?

TRUE STORY: 260105

This topic that came up yesterday. I wrote a comment, admiring a certain artist's work (we shall call this person Artist A).

Another artist (we shall call this person Artist B) replied to my comment, saying (basically) : "I can make one of these FOR you, and for anybody else who wants one."
(I am paraphrasing all comments here. Just trying to capture the meanings behind the actual conversation.)

Artist A sent me a private message, asking if I thought this was okay.

On the board, I wrote a reply to Artist B, saying that I didn't think it was a good idea to copy someone else's work without permission. I was more verbose than I should have been. Since I CAN quote myself, here's what I wrote:

I think it is best not to copy another artist's card without their permission. I will admit that I have made "inspired by" cards over the years, but this looks like a totally original card and I would never trade for a copy of Ida's card, made by someone else, without Ida's permission.

Some people do not mind... but some people so. I would recommend that you send Ida a photo of anything you create before you trade it. Just as a courtesy. To me, this kind of communication is what I find most important when trading ATCs. The exchange of ideas between artists.

I once made a complete, total copy of a portion of a good friend's painting.... but I asked her first, and I kept for myself as a remembrance of HER original art. I didn't trade it to anyone else.

I really don't want this to sound like a lecture. This just happens to be a topic that I care very deeply about. (In fact, I once got "attacked" on the board for stating my preference that people give better credit to their sources.) I am working on an ATC website, filled with resources, and this is a topic I plan to write a LONG article about.

I'd be happy to swap some time, for something that you consider to be "your" style. I have a lot of cards available just now on my website. Let me know if you find something you like. https://sites.google.com/view/ayearinthelifeofanatcartist

I sent a private message to Artist A, telling her I had written a response to Artist B.

On the board, Artist B wrote that yes, she thought I was lecturing her.

I apologized.

Eventually Artist A and Artist B had their own conversation, without me, and resolved the issue peacefully.

This experience caused me to write this article today!

I have always been more interested in the interaction between artists than in the actual accumulation of physical cards. So I have a big collection of PDFs in which I have taken screenshots of various ATC conversations. I will never publish the names or the actual text from these conversations, but I will sometimes refer to these conversations on my website. Here's another very paraphrased conversation that took place quite a long time ago. I didn't capture the date in my screenshots:

H: Can someone tell me who painted this ATC? I love it. I'm going to paint it full size. Is it M? or A? Please help me find her.

(several people tried to identify the artist....who eventually came forward and commented:)

D: Yes, this is my original work. I don't really like it when people copy my work, but it's not like I can stop it.

R: It is Copyright infringement!

J: The biggest compliment one can receive is imitation

W: But not all artists feel that way...

M: Best to get permission before copying, especially in a trading group like this one.

Q: There's even a book called Steal Like an Artist

So here I am, going down memory lane, and trying to share some of my earlier experiences without stepping on anyone's toes. As I write this on January 5, 2026, I do plan to include more examples on this page. I think it is an important issue. If anyone wants to add their comments to this page, contact me via Instant Messenger.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse