Wendell Berry
1 9 3 4 – 2 0 2 6
his ‘madness’ was
a lamp of wisdom
in our perilous era
of disconnection
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Archive for August, 2026
Monday, August 31st, 2026
A First Place Surprise
Sunday, August 30th, 2026“To paint is not to copy the object slavishly, it is to grasp a harmony among many relationships.”
— Paul Cézanne“In my Father’s house are many mansions:
if it were not so, I would have told you.”
— Gospel of John, 14:2
It was quite an honor yesterday to receive a first place prize at the “Bourbon & Brushes” gallery event in Midway. To be honest, I was happiest with the recognition of collage as a legitimate painting medium for landscapes — an unconventional approach within the most grand tradition of representational art. The Bluegrass region of Kentucky is home to multiple landscape artists. I take inspiration from so many of them who excel in pastels, watercolors, acrylics, and oils. More than one of these artists were present among the Saturday lineup. One can have hope without expectations and place an outcome in the considerate response of the jurors. A salute to the other winners (some took home premium whiskey!), plus my sincere appreciation to the panel of volunteer judges and to the energetic organizers: Midway Art Studios, Bluegrass Distillers, and the charming City of Midway. On top of it, they tied the evening to an outstanding street festival which featured the live classic rock that can still stir my bones. (Every picture tells a story, don’t it?)
With the window of time offered by this challenge, I was able to spend a long Monday on location at Elkwood Farm pasting an interpretation of the setting near their home mansion (where a tasting room for Bluegrass Distillers is housed), to complete the piece in my studio by the Thursday night deadline, and then to make a Friday delivery. My composition includes a “portrait” of a prominent misshapen tree, but the eye is drawn to the stately dwelling. I think I was successful in my attempt to include only the essential ingredients to grasp the character of the historic brick structure. At any rate, I won’t quibble with the jury’s verdict!
Many a Mansion
collage painting by J A Dixon
11 x 14 inches + wood frame, crafted by the artist
available for purchase
• First Place Prize
View my collage landscape galleries —
Thursday, August 27th, 2026
Recent Landscapes
As I continue
“painting in papers”
Collage en Plein Air
Making art in
outside places
LITTER-ally KENTUCKY
Also available as
large giclée prints
A Change of Seen
When I took paper and
paste outside
Les Cheneaux Series
Inspired by the
northern waters
NOTE: All artworks and creative property published within this website (The Collage Miniaturist) are fully protected, with all rights reserved under copyright or database law. I, John Andrew Dixon, refuse permission to any organization or individual acting or seeking to use this site to train large language models. My consent is lawfully withheld.
Join us Saturday for this gallery event!
Tuesday, August 25th, 2026
Our CONVERSATIONS continue . . .
Sunday, August 23rd, 2026 
Pay a visit to Georgetown, Kentucky this month to view CONVERSATIONS, my current exhibition with pastel artist Julie Quick at Fine Art Editions Gallery. See many of my original plein air collage landscapes in person. For premium prints of my art, talk to proprietor John Stephen Hockensmith, a consummate reproduction specialist. I could not be more pleased with the archival quality and affordable pricing.
Thirteenth chapter — enduring the emissions . . .
Saturday, August 22nd, 2026“I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky.”
— Abraham Lincoln
I did not create anything specific for July’s 250th commemoration of the Declaration, but I figured I should finish off a plein air collage piece that I started during the summer of 2025. I put final touches on Tower of Boyle for OBSERVING LIGHT, the current exhibition by our Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky at Art Center of the Bluegrass in downtown Danville. If you are in the area, I hope you get to see the show!
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Tackling our courthouse tower with collage proved a bit tricky after I found a spot to sit on Main Street. The noise and truck exhaust was more unpleasant than I expected. At any rate, I blocked it out and added enough detail to offer a fighting chance in the studio. “Gimme that countryside!”
I have not typically interpreted local landmarks and historical architecture, but I challenged myself with this distinctive cupola when the PAACK gathered in downtown Danville. The Boyle County Courthouse has an interesting story. It was completed during the Civil War and almost immediately became a hospital for casualties from the Battle of Perryville. Because the backyard of our home and studio adjoins the Courthouse boundary, we have lived in the shadow of its familiar clock tower since 1990. Perhaps it is just me, but something seems fitting about adding this to my paper creations during the year that America celebrates an important anniversary of its founding document, since so many people were caught up in a battle to determine its promise for Kentucky and the Union. Some of the wounded soldiers survived with the care they received beneath the Boyle icon, and others died there, so far from their own homes. Abe’s peculiar wartime remark provides a hint of how vital the border state of Kentucky was to the effort, and the men on both sides of the bloody conflict near Danville surely knew it. Over a thousand of them paid with their lives.
Tower of Boyle
collage en plein air by J A Dixon
6.25 x 8.375 inches
• S O L D
The horse series continues . . .
Saturday, August 15th, 2026 
Equus Caballus
found paper collage by J A Dixon
7.875 x 10.125 inches
art collection of T L Strock
Adding livestock to my pictorial collage art . . .
Thursday, August 6th, 2026 
Clouds and Hooves
scrounged paper landscape by J A Dixon
on canvas panel, 8 x 8 inches
mounted to wood frame handcrafted by the artist
available for purchase