Artists/Collage « The Collage Miniaturist

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Fallen Body

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 »

A Chicken Involved

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

“Not what we give, but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare.”
— James Russell Lowell

My thanks to fellow collage artist, Kathleen O’Brien, who kindly bestowed on me a delightful trove of vintage poultry. By all appearances, the various hens, roosters, ducks, and geese were scissored from multiple sources many years ago, often less than expertly, and compiled for some anticipated project. Why this collection was passed along or sold, with an original intent abandoned, can never be known, but my friend felt that the ingredients were more suited to my artistic activity than hers, so now I am the fortunate steward of a silent menagerie. Hope Kroll, the “paper surgeon,” could undoubtedly exploit the entire mass of images in one fell swoop, but I am more likely to apply them in a trickle. Here is the first collage that benefits from the acquisition:

A Chicken Involved
collage miniature by J A Dixon
4 x 4 inches
collection of R Gilpin

Posted in H Kroll, Ingredients, J A Dixon, K O’Brien, Links | No Comments »

Fears and Fancies

Wednesday, June 12th, 2013

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
— Leonardo Da Vinci

“A painting is never finished. It simply stops in interesting places.”
— Paul Gardner

One of the many fascinating aspects of this medium is that a collage can never be ruined, but only delayed. Perhaps it is the most forgiving of all art forms. Nevertheless, artists have been thinking about the issue of completion for a very long time, and a vital part of creating a collage is deciding when to quit. We see many examples that appear overworked to the point of exhaustion, or that fall short of a fitting denouement. Whether one considers it abandonment, suspension, or conclusion, the collage artist, like any creative person, must pay attention to a process that leads to the notion of “ahhh… the end.” When does the sculptor lay down the chisel? How does the choreographer know a dance is finished? When does the poet decide to stop revising?

A collage may languish in the working space for days, or even weeks, defying its appointed culmination. With experience, one can recognize the need for postponing a final resolution, and it usually involves matters of both compositional harmony and ingredient quality. While some arrangements follow a natural progression of assembly, others cannot be pushed to premature completion. If a “missing” element eludes the sought-after symbiotic result, one must wait until a solution is clear. In spite of its size, today’s featured miniature is such a case in point. Brought out several times for fresh review and incremental color refinements, it was deemed unfinished until a second egret presented itself. How does one know when a collage is done? For me, the more important consideration is learning how to see that it is not.

Fears and Fancies
collage miniature by J A Dixon
4.5 x 4.5 inches
private collection

Posted in Collage, Ingredients, J A Dixon, Methodology | No Comments »

a soldier’s birthday . . .

Friday, June 7th, 2013

“When will we ever get wise to the debt we owe the men and women of the military? When will we ever learn to pray for them every day? We do not deserve such fine people.”
— Ben Stein

My nephew is not here for his birthday today. He’s in Jordan, or Kuwait, or Afghanistan — I don’t even know exactly where, but someplace dangerous and probably very, very hot.

Celebrate the day, Josh, if you can.
Serve well. Be safe. Return home.

Posted in Haus of Cards, J A Dixon | No Comments »

Disinclination be damned

Friday, May 31st, 2013

“We must always work, and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood. If we wait for the mood, without endeavoring to meet it half-way, we easily become indolent and apathetic. We must be patient, and believe that inspiration will come to those who can master their disinclination.”
— Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Like most collage artists, I usually don’t know immediately if what I’m producing “works.” Nevertheless, one has to buy into one’s process and trust that fruit is born through “stick-to-itiveness.” With diligence and a bit of perspective, it’s always possible to sort out the promising threads of creative direction. When they come into focus, keep moving. When they don’t, keep moving anyway.

Partners in Crime
collage miniature by J A Dixon
4.5 x 6.25 inches

Purchase this artwork!

Posted in 1) Available!, Collage, J A Dixon, Methodology | No Comments »

Remember . . .

Sunday, May 26th, 2013

Posted in Digital Concepts, Holidays, J A Dixon | No Comments »

Two more tribute miniatures

Saturday, May 25th, 2013

Some collage artworks spring spontaneously from a random juxtaposition, a mental picture, or the way various ingredients coalesce. Others are sparked by thoughts about an individual. The first example below was a tribute to Zach Collins, one of the more prolific American collage artists whose work is also consistently innovative. The second piece is dedicated to a couple of guys I know who both had birthdays this past week. One is a friend, and the other is family.

Blind the Mocking Eye
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5 x 5 inches
private collection

Sufficient Alacrity
collage miniature by J A Dixon
4.875 x 6.875 inches

Purchase this artwork!

Posted in 1) Available!, Ingredients, J A Dixon, Z Collins | No Comments »

Mystery Solved ~ details

Sunday, May 19th, 2013

For the full viewing experience, one can never get too close to a collage, but this opinion from a person so enamored with the miniature probably comes as no surprise. When I create a larger piece, lessons learned from the small format have a strong bearing on my approach. As a concluding exercise to hone compositional awareness, it is beneficial to discover croppings that can stand successfully on their own. Before Mystery Solved left the studio, it was interesting to visually isolate six square miniatures, just to see if they might capture in microcosm the essence of the parent design.

A ‘Jack of Diamonds’ was too visually outstanding
at first and had to be massaged into balance.

I enjoy creating a montage of linguistic symbols,
but “a-l-e” was accidental (or perhaps subliminal;
one never really knows with collage).

Integration through color: photo of butterfly
specimen + ticket stub + magazine scrap.

Juxtaposition: illustration from an exotic soap
wrapper + book engraving + photo of flower.

The interesting effect of a raised panel: the
illusion of depth versus actual dimensionality.

From diverse sources: combining ingredients
that seem to have always belonged together.

Thanks again for looking. Please share your thoughts, suggestions, or constructive criticism (frankly, our medium of collage always needs a healthy dose of it).

Posted in Collage, Criticism, Details, Ingredients, J A Dixon, Larger Works, Methodology | No Comments »

On giving it away . . .

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013

“Giving is an energy that not only helps others but creates even more for the person who is doing the giving. This is a natural law that is true regardless of whether the person who is giving wants or even realizes what is occurring. Any success you have is despite your lack of giving, not because of it. The universe knows what it is doing. Everything you give away will return. With interest!”
— Richard Carlson

Once every two years, I contribute a work to our local arts scholarship fundraising effort. As a fine artist, I limit my charitable involvement to a single event out of numerous worthwhile causes. Creatives have to be very discerning about this type of thing, because, as others have pointed out, organizations have an insatiable appetite for donations of art and the phenomenon is out of control. It is up to each individual to find the proper balance of self-interest and generosity. My suggestion: keep it small, infrequent, and close to home.