Haus of Cards « The Collage Miniaturist

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the Haus at reduced output . . .

Wednesday, June 14th, 2017

“Stressing output is the key to improving productivity, while looking to increase activity can result in just the opposite.”
— Paul Gauguin

My card-making activity continues at a much lower rate, compared to my peak years, and they still tend to fall into one of three categories:

• Series Alpha — combines scrap letters, often with traditional hand lettering arts.

• Series Omega — features my conventional collage technique, applied directly to the folded card.

• Series Pi — attaches an ultra-miniature dimensional collage to the card, like a little square-cut slice of “Pizza Pi.”

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Omega, collection of K Miller

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Alpha, collection of V E Dixon

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Omega, private collection

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Alpha, collection of R W Breidenbach

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Alpha, collection of J M Dixon

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Omega, collection of D Wells

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Brendan’s Birthday Comic Strip Artifact

Sunday, April 30th, 2017

Brendan’s Birthday Comic Strip Artifact
collage artifact by J A Dixon
12 x 7.375 inches
collection of B C Adkins

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

Continuing a series . . .

Friday, December 23rd, 2016

“It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover.”
— Henri Poincaré

December is the time of year for making hand-crafted holiday cards. By and by, I return to variations on the theme of a Christmas tree. Perhaps some of the collage miniatures are more “successful” than others, but the point of this ritual (other than sharing joy with dear ones, of course) is granting free rein to an intuitive response. Exercising this capacity is at the heart of collage as a medium. How important it is to give the imagination a blank check and invest no concern in the lack of a preconceived approach! Choosing a simple pictorial theme conveniently jump-starts an experimental process. What follows is pure discovery.

29 collage greeting
cards by J A Dixon
variations on a
Christmas theme
2001 – 2016

Posted in Experiments, Gift Art, Haus of Cards, Holidays, J A Dixon, Methodology, Theme/Variation | No Comments »

John’s Haus of Cards ~ three series

Friday, July 22nd, 2016

“When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened. It is sad to go to pieces like this but we all have to do it.”
— Mark Twain

My card-making activity stretches back before intact memories. How early? Press me too hard and you might hear me claim that I started before learning to write my name.

Currently, my crafted greetings tend to fall into one of three categories:

• Series Alpha — combines scrap letters, often with traditional hand lettering arts.

• Series Omega — features my conventional collage technique, applied directly to the folded card.

• Series Pi — attaches an ultra-miniature dimensional collage to the card, like a little square-cut slice of “Pizza Pi.”

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Pi, collection of E E Smith

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Omega, collection of G Zeitz

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Pi, collection of J D A Wood

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Alpha, collection of T Strock

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Omega, collection of R W Breidenbach

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
series Pi, collection of W W Bates

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

many years . . . many cards

Sunday, July 3rd, 2016

I cannot remember when I started mailing out my collage miniatures, but it was an awfully long time ago!

You are welcome to browse my Haus of Cards archive.

Two California-Bound Greetings
collage miniature cards by J A Dixon
(click each to view larger)

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Monday, February 15th, 2016

The customary Valentine’s Day division of labor: I make a card and my sweetheart bakes a cherry pie. Don’t you agree that I get the better side of this deal?

Hearts for Dana, 2016
collage greeting card by J A Dixon
7.875 x 5.25 inches

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Happy 33!

Friday, September 11th, 2015

Dana and I are observing 33 years of marriage, apart from each other. I have made an anniversary collage for her with the scraps of rubbish at hand. Is there not beauty and the potential for redemption in nearly everything, if you remember to look for it?

Les Cheneaux Sails
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5 x 7 inches
collection of D L Dixon

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Haus of Cards!

Monday, July 6th, 2015

“Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
— Franz Kafka

How can one ever exhaust the potential of combining creative spontaneity with affection for another on a special occasion? Wishing another well is a powerful catalyst for plucking a bit of beauty from material that would otherwise be trashed or recycled. Why not re-purpose it? One less store-bought greeting card is no tragedy.

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
collection of L E Dixon

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
collection of F Breidenbach

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
collection of C Dixon

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
collection of K Sluga

collage greeting card by J A Dixon
collection of J L Dixon

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Happy happy . . .

Saturday, April 11th, 2015

My fondest birthday greetings to a “partner in all things.”

For Dana
collage miniature by J A Dixon
6.3125 x 3.875 inches
collection of D L Dixon

Posted in D L Dixon, Haus of Cards | No Comments »

Still More Haus of Cards

Sunday, March 8th, 2015

“I allow total spontaneity to overwhelm the process. Ingredients that allude to the world of the recipient merge with conspicuous or camouflaged non-sequitur elements.”
— 2/2/13

Journal studies and collage greeting cards are my proving ground for the qualities that lead to fruitful miniatures, and I am finding that self-contained miniatures themselves are increasingly serving as ingredients in larger works. This could get interesting.

Two Heart to Handle
collage greeting card by J A Dixon

Adventures to Last
collage greeting card by J A Dixon

February Hearts
collage greeting card by J A Dixon

For The Bobs
collage greeting card by J A Dixon

Sweet Time Puffin
collage greeting card by J A Dixon

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the Man Card ~ part three

Wednesday, December 31st, 2014

“But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;”
— William Butler Yeats

If you have not tired of looking at images that grew out of the guy-to-guy thing, here are just a few more items from the Haus of Cards that illustrate some occasions when only a Man Card will do.