TAM Rubber Stamp Archive

Hagen - Stempelmekka 1992

2008-02-17T03:11:00.000-08:00

A small selection of my erasercarved stamps on exhibit at the Stempel Mekka in Hagen, 1992

Catalogue available at LuLu

2008-01-13T07:22:00.000-08:00

The catalogue of the exhibition in the L-Gallery in Moscow is now available at LuLu. Just go to:

http://www.lulu.com/content/1862885

07-337

2007-11-03T01:00:00.001-07:00

Sheets that were sent in for the Exhibition at L-Gallery in Moscow.

06-017

2007-11-03T00:59:00.001-07:00

04-055

2007-11-03T00:58:00.000-07:00

03-218

2007-11-03T00:57:00.000-07:00

Pamphlets (2)

2007-11-03T00:56:00.000-07:00

Pamphlets

2007-11-03T00:53:00.000-07:00

For contributors to the TAM Rubberstamp Archive new pamphlets are made to send out. So they will be on their way soon.

TAM Rubberstamp Archive

2007-10-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

Because of the upcoming 25 years celebration I have just ordered this rubberstamp which you will be seeing soon on my outgoing mail. Just first signals of the special events planned in the next year....

20464

2007-10-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

More Stampsheets

2007-10-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

Because the 25 year celebration is coming closer, more sheets are sent out to get the newest images for the growing collection.

New business Card

2007-10-07T11:36:00.001-07:00

Mona Lisa Collection

2007-09-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

Special part of the collection in the TAM Rubberstamp Archive: Mona Lisa

New Stampsheets - details

2007-09-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

New Stampsheets

2007-09-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is the design of one of the new stampsheets that I am sending out starting of today.

25 years celebration

2007-09-22T01:38:00.000-07:00

As some of you might have guessed, the 25 year celebration of this archive is now being prepaired. Special sheets are sent into the network and the possibilities of a larger exhibition are being investigated. If you want to receive some special sheets, just send an e-mail (of letter) to the address of TAM-Publications.

New additions to the Collection

2006-12-02T13:11:00.002-08:00

In 2006 I started to send out new sheets to discover new uses of the Rubber Stanps in the Mail-Art network. These sheets started with the number 50.000+. After just a few months the first sheets have been returned to the new location of the Archive in Breda. A selection you find below and above.....

50059

2006-12-02T13:11:00.001-08:00

50056

2006-12-02T13:11:00.000-08:00

50053

2006-12-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

50039

New Collage Sheet

2006-11-11T01:54:00.000-08:00

very recent collage contribution by Lancillotto Belini (Italy), John M. Bennett (USA), Solamita Luigino (Italy) and J.K. Post (USA)

A1 - UK

2006-11-11T01:51:00.002-08:00

5414

Copy-Left - Switzerland

2006-11-11T01:51:00.001-08:00

4960

Joki Mail-Art - Germany

2006-11-11T01:51:00.000-08:00

contribution in a different format by Joki Mail Art, Minden Germany. Number 1518

Rubber stamps as an art form

2006-10-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

source: Wikipedia

Rubber Stamp Art by Michael Dare

In the art world, there is also rubber stamp art. Sometimes the rubber stamps are self-made or even carved out of erasers. Today, companies in the US offer special, eraser-like rubber in larger pieces produced for this. This art is popular there, but virtually unknown in Europe. It is especially used by non-professional artists due to ease of use. It can mimic woodcuts, but is rarely used this way. The print from the carved rubber stamp is viewed as work of art on its own or one or several stamps are used to embellish a work of art with other components.
Also, other materials besides rubber may be used to produce a stamp. In fact woodcut and linocut are the same art using another carving material, but linoleum is much harder and so special tools are needed to work with it. In Europe linocut is widely used, other than rubber carving. While linocut is much used at schools or by hobby artists, woodcut is mostly restricted to professional artists because it's hard to do and takes long. Rubber carving material is available there now, but it's marketed as a children's toy and not widely used.
There are several possibilities to vary the look of those works. Paints, pigments and dye inks all create different effects, extending the use of rubber stamping from paper to fabrics, wood, metal, glass, and so on. Special ink pads can be purchased that allow for embossing and there are pens that can be used to ink stamp pads with a variety of colors for a multi-color look. All this creates possibilities for mixed media art of all sorts.
The print of a larger rubber stamp can be a work of art on its own right, and is often used as such. But it's also possible to use multible prints from the same or different rubber stamps on a piece of art to create a picture, or combine stamping with other art forms.
Of course the use of rubber stamps can be combined with other materials. The image may be embellished by the addition of chalks, inks, paints, fibers and a variety of other ephemera and embellishments.
Those works are often used in mail art or artist trading cards because they tend to be small and allow the making of series. The TAM Rubber Stamp Archive has a collection of prints of rubber stamps mail-artists used since 1983 (see link). Stamping is also often used in handmade cardmaking.
In addition, use of the stamping technique has become widely popular with scrapbooking. The variety of stamps available allow for different looks to any given page.