Archive for the ‘Artifacts’ Category
Sunday, April 12th, 2015
“I have had a long time affection for the Martini action found in the large frame and small frame rifles.”
– David Simpson
Here is a gift collage on beer coaster for my favorite marksman (but he declined to use it for its intended celebratory purpose). I enjoy the miniature format so much that I never hesitate to try out a genre made famous by others. Any birthday coaster requires a tip o’ the cap to Ted Tollefson, does it not?
Molten Sky, Spotter’s Cry
birthday collage on Samuel Adams coaster
J A Dixon, 4 x 4 inches
collection of D Simpson
Posted in Artifacts, Gift Art, J A Dixon | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 4th, 2015
“When people think about creativity, they think about artistic work — unbridled, unguided effort that leads to beautiful effect. But if you look deeper, you’ll find that some of the most inspiring art forms, such as haikus, sonatas, and religious paintings, are fraught with constraints. They are beautiful because creativity triumphed over the ‘rules.’ Constraints shape and focus problems and provide clear challenges to overcome. Creativity thrives best when constrained.”
— Marissa Ann Mayer
I have been intrigued by the recent work of participants in the Matchbook Collage Collaboration Project. Collage artists, whether working alone or in collaboration, are increasingly known for imposed restrictions — time, scale, format, or ingredients. Early on I gained a healthy respect for the power of parameters, most likely because I was educated as a designer and trained as an applied artist. Years later, this respect was amplified significantly when I witnessed my nephew create thousands of 101-word stories as an exercise in creative writing.
A big part of managing open-ended potential when initiating new work is to dig for an “inner assignment” that limits the options and sparks a creative impulse. Another good catalyst is to look around for an external constraint. I enjoy reacting to calls-to-artists that focus on an organizing concept. Even if I don’t actually apply, the triggered intuitive process can be informative. Here is a piece that I just finished in response to the exhibition theme of “Home.” In addition to framing the possibilities, it provided an opportunity for me to work more three-dimensionally, explore color scheme limitations, and further investigate the combining of found materials.
Pearental Discretion
mixed-media artifact by J A Dixon
11.25 x 9.25 inches
available for purchase
Posted in 1) Available!, Applied Arts, Artifacts, Assemblage, B C Adkins, Collaboration, Combined Mediums, Constraints, Exhibitions, Fruit Series, J A Dixon | No Comments »
Monday, July 7th, 2014
With my birthday more than two months behind me, age 62 is now feeling old hat, but I have not forgotten about the gift from Ted Tollefson. His collage on beer coaster sparked a strong desire to reciprocate. Toll Taker is the result, and one could say I was “under the influence” of his cool style. It shall be sent it to him promptly with a couple more surprises.
Toll Taker
collage on Lore Brewing coaster
J A Dixon, 4 x 4 inches
collection of T Tollefson
Posted in Artifacts, Gift Art, Influences, J A Dixon, T Tollefson | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 30th, 2014
“To alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”
— Homer Simpson
Yesterday was my birthday, and I was rocked by the generosity of a fellow practitioner, Ted Tollefson. A veteran collaborator, he is also one of the more versatile individuals currently laboring in the medium. Like many collage artists, Tollefson explores a number of different approaches, but has recently established his mastery of the collage-on-beer-coaster format.
I was not fully aware until today that he has been producing a coaster-based collage for each of his facebook friends. That means hundreds of miniatures in a relatively short time frame, and, from what I can tell, he calibrates the visual method for each intended recipient. Given my expressed fondness for personal miniatures, TT is a kindred spirit indeed. He has crafted a real gem for my gift coaster. Everything about it — scale, colors, composition, textures, choice of ingredients — are simply outstanding. Thank you, sir, for your kindness. Keep up the superb effort. You are a true heir to Kurt Schwitters. Merz lives!
Take a look at just a few examples of his creative output and you might share my high regard for this mushrooming body of intriguing work.
April 29
collage on beer coaster
by T Tollefson for J A Dixon
Personal miniatures on beer coasters by Ted Tollefson.
(Hover over image for more information; click to view larger.)
Posted in Artifacts, Gift Art, K Schwitters, Merz, T Tollefson, Technique, Theme/Variation | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 18th, 2014
“All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
— Samuel Beckett
I cannot lay claim to having unraveled any of the perplexities of Worstward Ho or Waiting for Godot, but Beckett’s famous quotation about perseverance rings especially true for me. There are times when I look at a collage artwork just finished and, to be honest, I am unable to tell if it is a success or a failure. However, one thing is certain — I am always one step closer to knowing. Let us keep failing better.
Fresh Catch By John
collage artifact by J A Dixon
10.5 x 9 inches
Purchase this artwork!
Posted in 1) Available!, Artifacts, J A Dixon, March Exercise, S Beckett | No Comments »
Sunday, December 22nd, 2013
“Once you establish yourself as an artist, heaven forbid you change the formula too much. Paradoxically, this goes even for artists who ‘broke molds’ on the way up. The German powerhouse painter Gerhard Richter has gotten away with working in many different styles. But the case of 20th-century French chameleon Francis Picabia is a warning. He’s been dead since 1953, and he’s still paying for the fact that his art didn’t look the same from decade to decade.”
— Jen Graves
Pre-Christmas sales have accelerated, and there is enough time for local folks to surprise someone with a collage miniature under the tree. Cadenza Forte found a home after six and a half years. The buyer said he wanted an example of my “classic style.”
Hmmm… I need to turn that over in my mind for a bit.
Cadenza Forte
collage artifact by J A Dixon
16 x 20 inches
• S O L D
Posted in Artifacts, J A Dixon, Larger Works | No Comments »
Monday, June 24th, 2013
“Less is not necessarily more.”
— Milton Glaser
A profusion of collage artwork has recently come to my attention that makes use of only two or three elements. When this type of minimalist approach is successful, the result can be quite arresting to the eye and mind. More often than not, it looks uninteresting or unfinished to me. It may come as no surprise that I am more of a maximalist, preferring to build a layering of ingredients that transcends the intrinsic quality of the found material. I suppose that I have been more influenced by Schwitters than Cornell. Although there is nothing inherently unappealing to me about “sparsity,” admiring those who employ the methodology with skill, I have found myself pulled toward “density’ for the past few years. Some artists may think that if one hasn’t achieved a solution with fewer than a dozen parts, the essence of the piece has escaped. I appreciate that viewpoint, and respect those who consistently meet the challenge of limitation. For me, the working surface calls out for more, until a balance of “visual polyphony” takes form, and the dynamic aspects of color, shape, composition, and symbolic communication have resolved themselves as a distinctive, unified whole.
Fallen Body
collage artifact by J A Dixon
7.5 x 10.5 inches
available for purchase
Posted in 1) Available!, Artifacts, Collage, Influences, Ingredients, J A Dixon, J Cornell, K Schwitters, Links, M Glaser, Maximalism/Minimalism, Methodology | No Comments »
Monday, February 18th, 2013
“However long and varied the background of pasted materials in folk art, none of these developments was considered a major artistic movement. It was the creative artists of the twentieth century, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who applied materials as a new and valid means of expression. With these artists and their work the word ‘collage’ was first applied and became associated with the movement. Thus was born an art form that has become part of the contemporary milieu and, indelibly, a major historical art movement.”
— Dona Z Meilach and Elvie Ten Hoor
My wife and I recently went to see Lincoln, the Spielberg picture with Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role. It got me thinking again about the work I created for the bicentennial of the 16th president’s birth, the celebration of which was a fairly big deal here in his native state. I had made the decision to exploit the bulk of my collected Lincoln images to totally cover a metal star. To produce a collage tribute to the martyred leader with a folk-art approach seemed to me a technique appropriate to the occasion. The “artifact” is still waiting for a home. Happy Presidents Day to all.
Star of Abraham
collage artifact by J A Dixon
22 x 22 inches
Posted in 1) Available!, Artifacts, Folk Art, G Braque, Holidays, J A Dixon, Morgue, P Picasso, Technique | 1 Comment »
