The Collage Miniaturist

Second Peoples
collage on book cover by J A Dixon
9 x 11.5 inches
available for purchase

“I’ve been protected, I’ve been directed, I’ve been corrected, I’ve kept God in my life and it’s kept me humble, I didn’t always stick with Him but He always stuck with me.”
— Denzel Washington

Fortune’s Conspiracy went home with a buyer. I really wasn’t intending it as the first in a series, but I was moved to continue the theme and make another piece available for our Holiday Market at the Arts Center (here in my town of Danville). A fellow artist was curious about the logic of the title, but she eventually discovered the hymn and its fragment of wording. There are times when a collage title is as intuitive as the composition. I often think of a title as just one more ingredient in the total amalgamation — part of the harmonious balance that can exist beneath a veneer of irrationality.
 

J A Dixon enjoys a pleasant moment with fellow collage
artists at the Holiday Market opening.

Ever Dismay’d
collage miniature by J A Dixon
6 x 10 inches
available for purchase

Facts Well Known to Himself
collage artifact by J A Dixon
7.25 x 10.75 inches
available for purchase

Some collage ideas can be best described as a Rorschach.
 

more
collage Rorschach by J A Dixon
7 x 11 inches
private collection

Gloom and Splendor
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.25 x 8 inches
 
Purchase this artwork.

His Wounded Manhood
collage miniature on book cover by J A Dixon
5.125 x 8.125 inches
 
Purchase this artwork.

V: To Beds Less Sanctified
collage experiment on paper by J A Dixon
6.75 x 7 inches
 
Own this experiment.

• Collage is painting, so Cinta can inform and inspire collage.
• Many of us wanted to stow ourselves in Teri’s art-supply case.
• I’ve lost count of all the things I admire about Sheldon’s artistry.
• Cecil: The “spectacularness” of the harmony of all things.
• The opposite of collage — two solid hours of Wesley at work.

My thanks to everyone who created these featured videos.

“The most important thing a painter can do is find
a good place to sit.”
— J.E.H. MacDonald
 

As many of you already know, my warm-season activity was sharply curtailed by a mishap that diverted much energy into healing a traumatized left knee. As a result, I was unable to take advantage of the many “art-outs” organized by our Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky. However, I took part in their annual exhibition and was invited to make remarks at a recent “gallery talk” and describe the plein-air collage kit that I assembled last year. Here is an excerpt from my presentation:

“One of the nicer things about the art-out gatherings is knowing that someone has volunteered to find a great setting, and to arrange all the details with the hosts. So, there you are, arriving at a new location filled with possibilities. Personally, I find that it’s important to not spend too much time selecting a spot to sit, even though, in my mind, the entire enterprise rests upon that decision. I want the act to be part of the overall intuitive process to which my day is pledged. For example, at Cambus-Kenneth Farm, it was tough to avoid squandering valuable minutes, since there were barns, ponds, pastures, an impressive Italianate home, and many remarkably preserved 18th- and 19th-century brick outbuildings, including an icehouse, springhouse, and slave quarters. To keep the inertia, I decided I needed to crop the setting like a photographer, using a viewing card with square window. It was a rare treat for our group to be offered the opportunity to wander among the paddocks and historic structures in such a serene environment, but a plein-air artist is on a mission, the sun does not pause, and there is no room for indecision. If an artist wants to cultivate self-trust and forward momentum in technique, a regular plein-air challenge is the way to do it.”
 

(above) details from plein-air collage artworks by J A Dixon

(below) the artist describes his plein-art collage kit at a recent gallery talk

Newlyweds + Gift Art  —  If you frequent this site, you know that there are many different categories of collage. If anyone finds a more rewarding one than this, I want to know about it!
 
 

Fowl Language
collage on structured panel by J A Dixon
11.5 x 11.25 inches
private collection

Her Wordless Desolation
collage miniature on book cover by J A Dixon
5.125 x 8.125 inches
 
Purchase this artwork.