“Learn by little the desire for all things
which perhaps is not desire at all
but undying love which perhaps
is not love at all but gratitude
for the being of all things which
perhaps is not gratitude at all
but the maker’s joy in what is made,
the joy in which we come to rest.”
— Wendell Berry
Off La Salle
collage landscape by J A Dixon
9.75 x 7.875 inches
Les Cheneaux Series
Thanks for your interest in my “waterscapes.” Click on each thumbnail to view a larger image. Hover over thumbnails to view the availability of originals. Many of my previously sold artworks can be ordered as fine prints. Click here to scroll the original blog posts.
View the LITTER-ally KENTUCKY collection, too!
“Art is the last refuge. It need not be rationalized.”
— Harlan Hubbard
Dry Stone Lines
Boyle County, Kentucky
scrounged paper collage by J A Dixon
7.0625 x 9.5625 inches, on vintage book cover
outside start, Fieldstone Farm, KY
“Rooted in visual design and inspired by the avant-garde history of collage, LITTER-ALLY KENTUCKY is a compelling body of work that transforms discarded materials into powerful statements on beauty, environment, and belonging. Created entirely from recycled and found objects — including ruined book pages, used tea bags, and fragments of roadside litter — these intricate collage landscapes offer…” READ MORE:
Reproductions of my collage landscapes are now available to collectors directly from Fine Art Editions of Georgetown, Kentucky. The premium giclée prints are enlargements and successfully capture the dimensional paper details of the original miniatures.
Click here to visit the online store.
I am pleased to offer each of my sixteen LITTER-ALLY KENTUCKY landscapes as editions limited to 25 prints. These affordable enlargements are suitable for framing. Enjoy them in your home or office environment.
After my location start at Wildflower Ranch, I knew the foreground would need significant studio development. I had to cut myself off indoors to retain the 50/50 plein air designation, and, not surprisingly, nearly all of that time was devoted to the cornfield.
“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
Back the Holler
collage en plein air by J A Dixon
on vintage canvas panel, 10 x 8 inches
available to collectors
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
— Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863
Deep Morning Zephyr
This studio landscape study was inspired by my plein air practice and a recent train trip from California to Illinois via the transcontinental rail route envisioned by President Lincoln. Today’s memorial observance intensifies my gratitude for all the generations of soldiers and seafaring warriors who selflessly sacrificed all they had and all they would ever have to provide those like me the opportunity to pursue my creative calling. You are remembered and honored forever.
Opposite Old Lick
collage on stretched canvas by J A Dixon
10 x 10 inches, 2025
private collection
