The Stamp Act : Hobbies: Take a rubber stamp. Add one of a multitude of mediums. There you have it: Instant art.

There’s a movement afoot to stamp out art. News about this movement has spread through retail outlets and specialty stores. It has its own magazine, books and devotees, who have turned it into a multimillion-dollar industry.

Who is at the forefront of this movement? People who have discovered the art of the rubber stamp.

From young children to adults, these are people who have never thought of themselves as artists but yearn to create.

Cyndi Fox, a self-described minor stamp artist, says: “Stamps allow the average person to feel creative. You don’t have to be an artist, you just have to be able to hit a pad with a stamp and voila! You’re as good as Picasso ever was.”

Fox, who works at See Spot Run, a rubber stamp emporium at Los Angeles’ Farmers Market, may exaggerate a bit. But many noted artists have used rubber stamps.

The Dada movement in the 1920s prominently featured rubber stamp images. Saul Steinberg, Andy Warhol and Sister Corita Kent dabbled in stamp art techniques. Sixties buffs may remember “Be Here Now” by Baba Ram Dass, a counterculture classic completely illustrated by rubber stamp art.

Stamping and mailing have always gone together. In the late ‘50s, there was even a “Correspondence Art” movement with hundreds of artists sending their rubber stamped art to each other--in effect, using the mail as a gallery wall. (Some stampers swear Elvis was caught up in this movement; witness his testimonial anthem “Return to Sender.”)

But before art, there was commerce.

In the 1860s, Charles Goodyear perfected the process of vulcanizing and curing rubber, thus making it possible to mold and hold an impression. The U.S. Post Office was one of his first customers; “Return to Sender” and “Postage Due” were among the first rubber stamps. Today, the postal service owns what many believe to be the largest collection of rubber stamps in the world.

While the post office may use the most stamps, its message is hardly artistic. For Art with a capital A, prospective stampers have to get their hands on a stamp.

“When you look at them they’re fun; when you hold them and use them they’re fun,” says Gary Dorothy, owner of Stampa Barbara, the nation’s largest rubber stamp store with about 75,000 stamps.

“And when you receive something that’s been stamped, it’s delightful.”

Several enthusiastic stampers were browsing through Dorothy’s shop recently. One 7-year-old was looking for a gift for her violin teacher; the debate over the rabbit playing a violin and a frog playing a violin was a long one.

Comedian Mark Pitta was shopping for ways to stand out from the crowd. He decided on a stamp that portrays “Really Ugly Ties.”

As he watches his customers shop, Dorothy observes: “People will say, ‘I’m not creative.’ But they really are. They just haven’t had the right medium. People learned early on that they weren’t good at drawing and painting, but rubber stamps help them change that perception about themselves.”

Forged in rubber, ready and waiting for the artist are stamps of birds and bees, flowers and trees, 747s and Model Ts.

Holiday stamps celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas; Valentine’s Day sentiments can be celebrated year ‘round, with hearts and roses, kissing couples and even a few mildly naughty motifs.

The selection of stamps is overwhelming. Teddy bears, kittens and rabbits are predictable favorites, as are names, monograms and smiling faces.

But your choices are hardly limited to the warm and fuzzy. You can buy:

* A picnic pack of stamps--complete with food, drink, trees and even ants.

* A political slogan, a caricature of George Bush or Mikhail Gorbachev, “Boycott Exxon,” or “Peace and Freedom in Central America.”

* Christians can spread the word with praying hands, doves and “Praise the Lord” stamps.

* Southwestern buffs can stamp out cacti, adobes, pottery and the likeness of Georgia O’Keeffe.

But the art is in the stamping, not the stamp, so you need an array of accessories to make your mark.

First, because every message needs a medium, you must decide what to stamp. Your choices include stickers, gift tags, refrigerator magnets, bookmarks, door hangers, greeting cards, party hats, ribbons, gift bags, lunch bags and stationery and envelopes.

Next, the artist can choose from an array of supplies that give color, texture and dimension to stamping. Stamp pads range from metallic inks to brilliant colors. Glitter glue, watercolor markers, embossing powders, ribbons, flowers and jewels complete the polymer palette.

These supplies can be purchased through mail-order catalogues from a number of small companies bearing names like Stamp Francisco, the Rubber Room, Repeat Business and Bizzaro. Until recently, the dedicated stamper had to shop by mail. But of late, Southland retailers have gotten into the stamp act.

Betty Harris, 68, has a collection of more than 12,000 stamps. She makes several pilgrimages a year up the coast to Stampa Barbara.

“At first, I bought my stamps and supplies just from catalogues,” she said. “But when the specialty stamping stores opened, I went hog-wild and crazy.”

Also boosting the stamp craze is Rubberstampmadness, a magazine published in Ithaca, N.Y. The editor, Roberta Sperling, puts her editorial stamp on her publication under the byline Rubberta Stampling. The tabloid includes product reviews, personality profiles and design techniques.

The current issue features an article about stamping out stress and another that boasts of the therapeutic benefits stamping provides for the criminally insane--and for those who are just a little crazy.

Bobbie Boschan, who owns Stamp Stamp Stamp in Santa Monica Place, suggests that stamping may very well be the perfect art form for the ‘90s. It’s fast, it’s fun, it holds your attention, and it grabs the attention of others.

“It’s like a hobby that offers instant gratification,” Boschan says. “It’s not like trying to learn the piano.”

All in all, stamping is a very stimulating experience, Boschan says.

“Put a rubber stamp down of a bird, and you can make it fly off the page.”

Rubber stamp outlets in Southern California include:

* Stampa Barbara, Studios 15, 16 and 20, El Paseo, 813 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara, (805) 926-4077; and 6903 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 931-7808.

* A Stamp in the Hand, 429 E. Market St., Long Beach, (213) 422-2591.

* Stamp Stamp, Stamp, 123 Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica, (213) 451-9447; and 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., J-284 Century City Shopping Center, Los Angeles, (213) 556-3940.

* See Spot Run, Farmers Market, 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, (213) 938-SPOT

Stamping events include:

* The Original Rubber Stamp Convention, July 7. For information, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to P.O. Box 5160, Long Beach, Calif. 90805. Attn: RSC.

* An exhibition of rubber stamps is on display at the Craft and Folk Art Museum gift shop; open Tuesday-Sunday from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. For information, (213) 937-9099.