Archive for February, 2020

Big night for tiny art

Saturday, February 29th, 2020

“Many artists struggle to make a profit each year, and although it might sound noble to give art away, sometimes it does the community of artists more harm than good. Fundraisers who ask numerous artists for outright donations devalue the worth of the art in that community. … The folks that put on these fundraisers are not malicious people. They just don’t understand how selling donated art at low prices hurts the art community.”
— Lori Woodward
 

Our local Art Center had another successful fundraiser last night, thanks to a massive number of minuscule donations from regional artists. Staff members had to rethink how the event was organized. The turnout was so insane last year that the fire marshal weighed in with concerns.

I contributed four playing card experiments a year ago, but this time around I decided to boost that to five collage miniatures that met the 6×6-inch constraint.

Much has been said and written about the expectation that artists will continuously supply the fruits of their creative labor without compensation in support of nonprofit fundraisers. My basic motto is, “Keep it small, and keep it infrequent.” I’ve gone into more detail about the issue at this blogsite more than once. I have respect for those who decline requests across the board. It’s a decision for each individual. It bugs me when people preach a universal approach. Pro-bono contributions are a time-honored activity in the professional world, but, as with nearly everything, there has to be balance. I recently took part in a fundraiser that split some of the proceeds with participating artists. Nothing wrong with a win-win like that. I hope the practice spreads to a greater number of worthy organizations.

It’s not a new idea. Maria Brophy, Lori Woodward, and others had pretty much thought this through ten years ago:

• mariabrophy.com / the problem with donating art and the solution

• fineartviews.com / fundraisers that do it right

Please share your observations with me. I shall always reply!
 

   

 

   

 


 
 
 

Five Tiny Donations
collage miniatures by J A Dixon
within a 6×6-inch size limit
“Tiny Art” fundraiser to benefit
Art Center of the Bluegrass

Februllage ~ day twenty-six

Wednesday, February 26th, 2020

 
collage experiment (day twenty-six) by John Andrew Dixon for Februllage, a collage-a-day initiative by the Edinburgh Collage Collective and the Scandinavian Collage Museum

Untitled (kiss)
collage exercise by J A Dixon
9.625 x 9.625 inches
 
for Februllage 2020

Februllage ~ day twenty-four

Monday, February 24th, 2020

 
collage experiment (day twenty-four) by John Andrew Dixon for Februllage, a collage-a-day initiative by the Edinburgh Collage Collective and the Scandinavian Collage Museum

Flight Plan
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7.125 x 9 inches
available for purchase
 
for Februllage 2020

Februllage ~ day twenty-two

Saturday, February 22nd, 2020

 
collage experiment (day twenty-two) by John Andrew Dixon for Februllage, a collage-a-day initiative by the Edinburgh Collage Collective and the Scandinavian Collage Museum

Materiality
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7.25 x 10 inches
available for purchase
 
for Februllage 2020

Sprightly in the Morning

Friday, February 21st, 2020

 

Sprightly in the Morning
collage on book cover by J A Dixon
5.25 x 7 inches
private collection

Februllage ~ day nineteen

Wednesday, February 19th, 2020

 
collage experiment (day nineteen) by John Andrew Dixon for Februllage, a collage-a-day initiative by the Edinburgh Collage Collective and the Scandinavian Collage Museum

Idols
collage exercise by J A Dixon
6.875 x 8 inches
 
for Februllage 2020

Convinced of Her Merit

Monday, February 17th, 2020

 

Convinced of Her Merit
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.5 x 7 inches
available for purchase

Februllage ~ day ten

Monday, February 10th, 2020

 
collage experiment (day ten) by John Andrew Dixon for Februllage, a collage-a-day initiative by the Edinburgh Collage Collective and the Scandinavian Collage Museum

Personae
collage experiment by J A Dixon
5 x 6.25 inches
 
for Februllage 2020

Februllage ~ day nine

Sunday, February 9th, 2020

 
collage experiment (day nine) by John Andrew Dixon for Februllage, a collage-a-day initiative by the Edinburgh Collage Collective and the Scandinavian Collage Museum

Righteous Brutes
collage miniature by J A Dixon
6 x 5.875 inches
available for purchase
 
for Februllage 2020

Perspectives deserve to be reexamined

Saturday, February 8th, 2020

“Don’t think of it as failure. Think of it as time-released success.”
— Robert Orben

“If you’re doing it for prizes, you’re in big trouble.”
— Linda Ronstadt
 

Alphanumero is a large composite of 35 miniatures that I created for my first solo collage exhibition in 2007. It was acquired earlier this week by Bluegrass Care Navigators through the coordinating assistance of LexArts, the dynamic arts organization of greater Lexington, Kentucky. My sincere thanks to community arts director Nathan Zamarron for his professionalism and hard work.

Spontaneous expression within structural order had been my goal, as I created each individual “A-to-Z” and “1-to-9” composition from found material and combined mediums. I had no overall value-scale or color scheme in mind, so I didn’t see the effect of the sequential, up-and-down “path” until final assembly. With a bit of hindsight, the influence of my graphic design foundation is quite obvious, and I was only beginning to devote myself to an improvisational approach.

For a long time after that, I would focus on isolated miniatures as finished works. Alphanumero was a large and time-consuming affair, with a relatively expensive price. It’s no surprise that it took awhile to find a buyer. I’m pleased and gratified that it has.

I’ve had many thoughts about the piece over the last dozen years, and I now question the validity of some. I haven’t created anything similar at that size since. Although there might have been a sound motive for that, my likely rationale was that the original version hadn’t sold. That is not a good basis for discontinuing an artistic investigation. Thinking that a piece has a strong chance of being purchased is an equally wrong-headed reason to make a work of fine art. Yes, the creative calling exists in a marketplace, and that consideration is always present, but shouldn’t we try mightily to strip “merchandising” from our incentive to enter the studio each day?

Easier said than done . . .

 

Alphanumero
composite of collage miniatures by J A Dixon
30 x 40 inches, framed

•  S O L D

Februllage ~ day seven

Friday, February 7th, 2020

 
collage experiment (day seven) by John Andrew Dixon for Februllage, a collage-a-day initiative by the Edinburgh Collage Collective and the Scandinavian Collage Museum

Untitled (poem)
collage experiment by J A Dixon
5.75 x 5.75 inches
 
for Februllage 2020