Archive for the ‘Constraints’ Category
Saturday, June 27th, 2026
“He was working at a pace he knew he could sustain until quitting time; he was hitting his lick. The difficulty had come to be balanced by his being equal to it. He seemed almost to be gliding, as if drawn on now not by will but by gravity.”
— Wendell Berry, ”A Friend of Mine” from That Distant Land
My collage painting sold at the “Paint the Town” reception on Saturday evening. No matter how much preparation I do, the annual plein-air challenge forces me to cut and paste faster than at any other time. This year I made a tiny preliminary study 
of my intended composition the previous day, and I think that helped me stay impressionistic enough to meet the speed constraint. My thanks to Kate Savage and all her Arts Connect board members who created another successful, celebratory event — plus the artwork buyer, too!
The resulting exhibition is on display at the Main Lexington Public Library until mid July. Visit the Arts Shop with this link to purchase other creations from the day — for as long as they last!
Aspect with Apse
St Peter Church, Lexington, Kentucky
collage en plein air by J A Dixon
on stretched canvas 10 x 10 inches
plus handcrafted wood frame
• S O L D
Posted in Collage, Constraints, En Plein Air, Exhibitions, J A Dixon, K Savage, Landscape, Links, Paint the Town Series | No Comments »
Monday, March 23rd, 2026
My first rule of collage: There are no rules in collage.
Except for those imposed on oneself, such as my 2026 March Exertion, with 30 collage artworks created in 30 days. Below are six of them.
Click on each square preview to see the full image.
Follow my daily effort at Instagram.
Posted in 1) Available!, Collage, Constraints, Homage, J A Dixon, March Exercise, Merz, Rules of Collage | No Comments »
Thursday, July 24th, 2025
“The key is not to imitate life,
but to create it anew.”
— Lalo Schifrin
Although I spent eight hours outside on the miniature featured below, it required too long an indoor refinement period for it to earn a plein-air designation. The process is what matters, and who’s keeping score anyway? The limitations of paper demand a process not overly dependent on what I actually see. So I put imitation aside and follow my Third Rule of Collage: “Intuition is worthy of your trust.”
Working in the sun dries my paste, but I found myself looking for shade when I got to DayCrest Farm. I picked a spot with plenty of depth that overlooked rows of poppies, lavender, and sunflowers, and I took a reference shot on my feet. When I sat down with my rig, I could barely see the lavender. Moving nearer, a new composition photo was closer to what I wanted, and I boosted the hues
as I picked my colored papers.
I had mounted an old, ruined book cover as a substrate. It bled upward into a crumpled sky wet with paste. The unusual effect set a tone for the interpretation, which I carried forward with a more active horizon and a bold base of color. I liked how an accident helped tie the whole thing together back in the studio. When I integrated the dappled sky with moody clouds and represented analogous flowers, the top linked itself chromatically to this horizontal band of lavender. The additional poppies at the base provided a fitting contrast with my chosen shades of green. Except for the unexpected bleed, all color comes from the scrounged paper itself, with no added paints or pigments.
Poppy Solstice
scrounged paper collage by J A Dixon
vintage book cover on structure
outside start, DayCrest Farm, KY
Posted in 1) Available!, Collage, Constraints, Ingredients, J A Dixon, L Schifrin, Landscape, Methodology, Rules of Collage, Technique | No Comments »
Sunday, June 30th, 2024
“Yes, I hustle, I hustle to live with the intensity that only maturity can give.”
— Anthony Hopkins
The plein air tradition is alive and well in Central Kentucky. My thanks to Arts Connect for an outstanding “Paint the Town” event, with sincere appreciation to juror James Swanson for his recognition of collage as a plein air medium. A 2nd-place prize was quite unexpected, because it was everything I could do to meet their timetable in the extreme heat. All artwork had to be delivered framed and ready for immediate display by the 8am to 2pm deadline.
This event is always challenging for me, because I rarely need to paste as fast as I must for such a rigorous pace. Every time I go outside to create a collage landscape, adequate preparation is important, and then I try to be as spontaneous as I can with the materials that I bring. For this annual competition, the chosen scene is carefully scouted. I make more “prepared ingredients” ahead of time. That usually means additional printed-text gel transfers on a range of colored papers. You may have seen how I often include them for facade patterns, foregrounds, and foliage. Dana (my indispensable partner) dug out some of her mid-century carpet thread for my mobile stash, and I used it during the final minutes for utility wires.
The resulting exhibition is at the downtown branch of Lexington Public Library. For as long as it lasts, please view the artworks online to see a strong body of landscapes completed on that hot day. Buy one!
Ode to Grain
collage en plein air by J A Dixon
100% / 0% — site to studio
10 x 10 inches + wood frame, crafted by the artist
available for purchase
• Second Place Prize
Posted in 1) Available!, Collage, Constraints, En Plein Air, Events, Exhibitions, Honors, Landscape, Technique, Theme/Variation | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 31st, 2024
Looking back to when I was in Upper Michigan last year… In addition to making collage landscapes outside, I exploited whatever paper fragments were at hand in the cabin. The result was this experiment in color, form, and counterpoint. Those familiar with the history of collage as a modern art will understand why I think of it as “Vacation Merz.”
Untitled (dry shoal)
collage experiment by J A Dixon
9.3125 x 11 inches
available for purchase
Posted in 1) Available!, Abstraction, Constraints, Experiments, Homage, Influences, Ingredients, J A Dixon, K Schwitters, Merz | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 1st, 2023
Three more solutions that use two Februllage prompts, plus a single-catalyst collage for the 20th and final piece. The series is finished. I even tricked myself into creating a miniature self portrait. This project has provided a stimulating acceleration into March, traditionally one of my busiest studio months of the year. See you in April!
Posted in Collage, Constraints, Februllage, J A Dixon, Portraits, Surrealism, The Lived Life Series | No Comments »
