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Compliments of the Haus

Saturday, May 4th, 2013

“We don’t critique a gift. We don’t worry about its technical qualities or how its built. We don’t want metrics on our gifts. When we get a gift, it makes us feel something. Gifts tap into our sometimes irrational emotions and move us. We don’t question it. We simply give thanks.”
— Jarrett Fuller

Yesterday was my nephew’s birthday, so I produced the customary personal miniature as a greeting card cover image. Many of these creations are so idiosyncratic as to be virtually unexplainable (not that a collage needs any explanation in the first place, of course). Long have I found the personal miniature to be one of the most enticing of art forms. It begins with a pleasant agenda — engage the unique personality of the intended recipient — yet it offers profound opportunities for wild departures, because one already knows that the result will be met with joy and high regard by the primary observer. Much could be written about this subject and the history of artists as gift-givers. Any creative person will undoubtedly appreciate what I mean by this.

Here are a few more cards from my archives:

A Furious Struggle
collage miniature by J A Dixon
collection of B C Adkins

Gravitational Familiarity
collage miniature by J A Dixon
collection of S Lister

Solar Deliberation
collage miniature by J A Dixon
collection of J M Menke

Organic Potential
collage miniature by J A Dixon
collection of C Dixon

Compliments of the Haus
collage miniature by J A Dixon
collection of H Coomer

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

Cosmic Crust

Monday, April 29th, 2013

Today is my birthday, and I was the fortunate recipient of the best pie ever — red raspberry and tart cherry with whole grain crust. Therefore, I shall celebrate by exhibiting a collage miniature with pie!

Cosmic Crust
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7.5 x 7.5 inches, collection of Dana Dixon

Posted in D L Dixon, J A Dixon | No Comments »

Microcosmic Memories

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

Happy Happy to “my partner in all things.”
I love you forever . . .

Microcosmic Memories
collage miniature by J A Dixon
6.5 x 8 inches
collection of Dana Dixon

Posted in D L Dixon, Gift Art, J A Dixon | No Comments »

Odes to influence, invention, inspiration . . .

Sunday, April 7th, 2013

“I’ve never met a tradition that is not the result of successful invention. As soon as you invent something that everybody wants, unless you evolve that tradition, it starts to get smaller. I think of the Silk Road, in many ways, as the Internet of antiquity. Today it’s much faster but we had essentially the same results. When people met at the borders, you traded; you figured out who you are; do I trust you? Can we do business together? Can we be friends?”
— Yo-Yo Ma

A week after finishing my 31-miniatures-in-31-days exercise, which culminated in a “Silk Road” collage series, I am able to look at the month’s output with a bit of perspective. A period of sustained experimentation collided with a catalytic event (attending a performance of the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma), and suddenly I was off on a ride of intense thematic exploration. I am now able to link the end result to a piece I created seven years ago as a tribute to Kurt Schwitters. I felt strongly at the time that by transcending the individual characteristics of ingredient elements, the totality of a compositional effect could take on a reverential tone. I have nothing against irreverence, satire, or sarcasm in art, but I am increasingly comfortable with the idea that when I step beyond an inspirational experience, my natural tendency is to seek beauty, harmony, and perhaps even “the sacred” in a work of collage.

Sacred Ode To Merz
J A Dixon, 2006
homage to K Schwitters
16 x 20 inches (framed)
private collection

Posted in Artists/Other, Experiments, Influences, Ingredients, J A Dixon, K Schwitters, March Exercise, Merz, Silk Road Series, Y-Y Ma | No Comments »

March Exercise | Miniature Ten

Sunday, March 10th, 2013

“I have only to take up this or that to flood my soul with memories.”
— Madame Dorothee Deluzy

Here is a slight departure from the March format to acknowledge my “partner in all things.” 35 years ago, I was summarily dismissed from a position at an advertising agency, but the ultimate “silver lining” from the day was my successful first date with Dana that evening. We would soon become inseparable. Here’s to our next 35!

Untitled (35 Years with Dana)
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5 x 7.75 inches, not for sale

Posted in D L Dixon, Haus of Cards, J A Dixon, March Exercise | No Comments »

The March Exercise

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

“The unshakable rule is that you don’t have a really good idea until you combine two little ideas. That is why you scratch for little ideas. Without the little ideas, there are no big ideas.”
— Twyla Tharp

For a number of years, the month of March has held a special distinction for me as an artist. It all began in 2006 as a month-long experiment in focused awareness and evolved into an annual exercise to discover, refine, and internalize creative habits. Tomorrow morning the practice will commence again as I produce and post a collage miniature each day for the duration of the month. Of course, this is not a new idea. When it comes to doing this sort of thing online, most of us who concentrate in the medium will immediately think of Randel Plowman, the artist, author, curator, and blogger, who holds the A Collage A Day web domain. His successful publication, The Collage Workbook, brought heightened attention to the art form during its centennial year. Another individual who has made the online commitment is Portuguese artist Dilar Pereira, who maintains the Daily Collage Project. But when it comes to the ritual itself, who can hold a candle to the late John Evans? The New York artist created a daily collage for 37 years (except for a single day when he was too ill). Now that’s what I call an exercise!

Color Chart
collage on paper by Randel Plowman
8 x 8 inches
A Collage A Day

O Beijo
collage on canvas by Dilar Pereira
13 x 13 centimeters
Daily Collage Project

6-24-87
collage and watercolor on paper by John Evans
12 x 9 inches

Posted in Collage, D Pereira, Experiments, J Evans, Links, March Exercise, R Plowman, T Tharp | No Comments »

Journal Collage | First Page

Thursday, February 21st, 2013

“At first I put anything and everything in — phone numbers, appointments, grocery lists, in addition to things related to what I was thinking about for my work. Over the years the contents have become a shade more formal, and much more visual. There’s less of my hand (in the sense of sketches and drawings), more reliance on found material. But I’ve tried to keep the whole thing as loose and freewheeling as possible.”
— John Willenbecher

When I was 21, I had a single conversation with a man named Henry who boarded at the Cincinnati house where I lived. He seemed much older at the time, but I would guess now that he was barely 25. What I took away from that one exchange was Henry’s strong conviction that I should start a journal, as he had done several years before. Heeding his invaluable advice, I kept an active journal close at hand from that point forward. At first, it was just words, because I already had various sketchbooks as a student. Eventually, it became a comprehensive repository for personal notes, musings, doodles, and thumbnail ideas. As time passed, the content took on more of the character of visual exploration, with whole pages devoted to spontaneous collage experiments and studies for what might or might not lead to a finished artwork. I discovered that John Wllenbecher and others were calling their volumes “commonplace books,” a term more strictly applied to a “verbal scrapbook.” For some reason, mine also seemed a bit large for that particular name (sometimes 11 x 14, but most often 8.5 x 11), and so I’ve always continued to think of them as my journals. In combination with the many hundreds of handmade greeting cards I’ve created over the same period of time (nearly 40 years now), these private “chronicles” have served as the primary incubator for my work as a collage artist.

Untitled (Library Use Only)
journal collage by J A Dixon
8.5 x 11 inches, not for sale

Posted in Experiments, Ingredients, J A Dixon, J Willenbecher, Journal, Thumbnails | No Comments »

Diamonds in the Rough ~ details

Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

Collage for me is always an intimate viewing experience. You may find me with spectacles off and nose pressed near to the surface of any example within the medium. The scale of Diamonds in the Rough enhances the contrast between an up-close scrutiny and a step-back regard for the entire effect. With a large piece like this, I also enjoy visually cropping areas to create a series of virtual collage miniatures.

This micro view accentuates the ingredient elements, as in a collage miniature.
Visually, larger works are less ingredient centric, but still rely on their qualities.

I think my imagination would never tire of working with diagonals.
What is it about the diamond or the triangle that engages my mind’s eye?

This is one of my favorite areas within the total artwork.
Oddly, the legs and hands resonate with the Tapley drawing in the exhibition.

The composition’s focal center projects from the surrounding forms.
It differs energetically from the outer areas of structural perpendicularity.

To regularly bestow a new purpose on found material . . .
Without fear of contradiction, one could say that I am hooked.

The essence of collage is the contrast of the mundane and sublime.
At any rate, this is often how I perceive it.

WH—WHO’S THERE? (Look closely: Milt Caniff, that’s who.)
Somebody saw this as an homage to Roy, but Kurt used comics first.

A collage can rest divertingly upon layers of symbolic meaning.
Or it can be simply the harmonious resolution of aesthetic factors.

The dynamics of complementarity. (Is that a real word?)
More than one astute eye discovered my warm-cool “horizon.”

Composing with shape, color, contrast, rhythm, dimension.
At times, it need be about nothing more than that.

This image isolates a microcosm of the whole effect.
Are my larger works just a aggregation of collage miniatures?

Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is encouraged at this site. To be honest, the medium of collage needs a bit more of it.

Posted in 1) Available!, Collage, Criticism, Details, Embedded Miniatures, Exhibitions, Ingredients, J A Dixon, K Schwitters, Larger Works, Methodology, R Lichtenstein, S Tapley | No Comments »

First exhibition of 2013

Saturday, January 5th, 2013

“What makes a painting meaningful is the spectacle of the ordinary content living together with the equally important life of the picture plane and the unity of the whole surface.”
— Gillian Pederson Krag

It pleases me to say that my most recent large-scale artwork will be on display and available for purchase as part of an invitational exhibition now hanging in my hometown.

NEW YEAR NEW ART ~ Community Arts Center, Danville, Kentucky
January 2 to 26, 2013 ~ Reception: January 10, 6–8 pm

The invitation to participate is an honor for two reasons. It is always good for one to know that local people appreciate collage, especially the more esoteric kind. Even more humbling is to be included among some truly outstanding Kentucky artists, such as Sheldon Tapley, Helene Steene, Kathleen O’Brien, and Marianna McDonald. I’m looking forward to the reception this Thursday. Mayor Steven Connelly of nearby Berea will speak on the powerful effect the arts can have on local economies. According to Programming Director Brandon Long, the intention is to showcase “fresh, new art that has the kind of excitement and energy of artists who know their work will go on display.” Many of the diverse works were created specifically for the exhibition, and that includes mine. Everything accepted had to have been executed since September.

Diamonds in the Rough is a composite of panels and stretchers. It is my latest effort to free collage from behind glass and approach the medium in a manner similar to the painted surface that stands on its own. I also departed from my typical rectilinear format, yet sought to maintain the type of perpendicularity that I frequently exploit for a unified structure. As usual, the color balance of found material plays a vital role in my overall composition. The lineage of the collage miniature is strong here. In fact, nearly everything I do to produce a major work comes from what I have learned from the small-format approach. This recognition is not meant in any way to devalue the miniature. I would hope that you have come to know my penchant well enough by now to appreciate that.

The next entry will include some detail crops and perhaps a few remarks about the process, too.

Diamonds in the Rough
collage construction by J A Dixon
36 x 36 inches
available for purchase

Posted in 1) Available!, Collage, Exhibitions, J A Dixon, K O’Brien, Larger Works, Links, New Year New Art, S Tapley | No Comments »

Resolved . . .

Tuesday, January 1st, 2013

‎”Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first day of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.”
— Henry Ward Beecher

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson (thanks to four corners design)

It is interesting to see the contrasts inherent in various discussions about setting New Year’s resolutions. I think that most people who make them keep the practice to themselves, and the ones who do not are prompted to explain why, often coming from a position that seems cynical or overly critical to me. To be fair, some are simply being practical when they question the efficacy. For those who go out of their way to sow seeds of disdain for the customary list: it’s not about now long it stays viable, or about the resulting success rate, or whether it retains meaning in a culture where overt self-improvement carries a tinge of “fuddy-duddy-ness.” For me it’s about one’s mindset at the cyclical cusp. Is it not just “the thought that counts.” The thought becomes a renewal of self-belief, expressed in multiple line-items of striving. It requires introspection, evaluation, discernment, and commitment— hardly fashionable, to be sure. As an artist, I know that resolutions have worked for me at some level, just as they have for other aspects of my personal discipline (the effort to stop smoking, quit refined sweeteners, or get into marathon condition all began with a New Year’s Day pledge). The bad rap on resolutions probably has a lot to do with the familiar failure to abstain, and that’s understandable, given the nature of human behavior. For the most part, the average person underestimates the value of failure as a stepping stone to achievement. Some of the best insight I’ve read on the subject has been written and shared by choreographer Twyla Tharp. For a creative individual, positive resolutions can be an aid to tackling new challenges. Perhaps it is better to attempt a new ritual of focusing on priorities rather than resolving to banish procrastination, for example. Detrimental patterns can more effectively be overcome if one replaces them with beneficial habits. If a promise to oneself on January the First will help, I’m all for it.