Spool’s Errand
collage miniature by J A Dixon
8.5 x 9.75 inches
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Spool’s Errand
November 6th, 2017
More from the Crafted Series
October 23rd, 2017“It’s very rare that writing music is easy. But you should ask my wife: she suffers more in these cases than I do.”
— Arvo Pärt
The new Crafted Series has come fully into focus, although it has been necessary to keep my concentration fiddle-string tight to keep from slipping into more established instincts and to avoid over-working the compositions. The selection of ingredients and the design development had to be as intuitive as possible, even as I consciously pushed outside my comfort zone — a tricky balance. More than ever, it was my goal to have the artisanship be at the highest level, but I did not want these pieces to look like they were difficult to make. Rather, they should look like they were just meant to be. In all honesty, refining the titles was almost as challenging as creating the artwork. The five examples below have been submitted to the Kentucky Arts Council for review by a panel of independent jurors.
Lutetia Night Crystal
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.75 x 7.75 inches
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Humble Ruby Fillmore
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.75 x 7.75 inches
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Roberta Bloom Orbit
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.75 x 7.75 inches
• S O L D
Foxy Gold Hubbard
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.75 x 7.75 inches
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Karimata Core Cygnus
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.75 x 7.75 inches
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Open studio!
October 21st, 2017
November 4th is only two weeks away, and I’m preparing my studio for your visit.
Jet in for the weekend!
You’ll find all the details at our ARTTOUR website and google map.
Be there.
Aloha.
The Crafted Series
October 16th, 2017“Music, to me, is a matter of growth, development and rejuvenation.”
— Lalo Schifrin
Every so often, it is good to shove the status quo through the stern window into one’s wake. For me, that does not mean abandoning anything more than “business as usual.” Far from it. It becomes a matter of using everything that I have learned, showcasing all of my acquired skills, and tapping the full resource of internalized discernments to find a different level of creation. To whatever extent I am successful at doing that, there is hope for a renewed sense of discovery and joy.
As many of you know, I have considered collage to be an interactive medium. As a deeper back-and-forth, intuitive relationship with materials and compositional ingredients continues to develop, a corresponding interaction with those who respond to the work must also evolve. Art can indeed be a solitary, insular pursuit for some, but I consider collage to be more like music. How can the listener not be vitally important to the process?
In an interview, the late David Bowie said, “I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations. I think they generally produce their worst work when they do that. And, if you feel safe in the area that you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the border than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth, and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
There is powerful insight in that observation, but holding the expectations of others at arm’s length does not exclude a goal of preserving their interest and involvement in the experiment. Not at all. Certainly not for me. I invite and value the feedback. Constructive criticism, too. There is no fulfillment in failing to elicit a sense of pleasurable intrigue and wonder in those who value the hundred-year story of collage artwork. For me, it will never be a private affair.
Hedra Cinq Sahara
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.75 x 7.75 inches
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Azulenco King Jetties
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.75 x 7.75 inches
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Magna Finch Bombus
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.75 x 7.75 inches
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Horse Tail Reasons
October 9th, 2017“Que no haya novedad.”
— ancient Catalan saying
With my new “Crafted Series,” I am paying particular attention to capturing a dominant mood of mystery, surprise, and joy, while keeping the process as spontaneous as possible. These are not calculated artworks, even as I make an effort to hold dark undertones at bay. As with most of my compositions, there is an ordered structure, although not preconceived or based on a “preliminary layout.” The feelings to be evoked will arise as much from color choices (intuitively selected, rather than consciously built), as they will from the subjects of the assembled ingredients themselves. The example featured today was created with an individual recipient in mind, as with That Red Boot. From here I shall proceed with enthusiasm to a fuller series of slightly larger pieces. They will be made available to people interested in adding collage artwork to their collections. Stay tuned!
Horse Tail Reasons
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.375 x 7.125 inches
collection of J M Menke
Sunday: Nevada
October 2nd, 2017
Sunday: Nevada
collage miniature by J A Dixon
6 x 7.75 inches
Las Vegas Victims’ Fund
That Red Boot
September 11th, 2017“As a husband, you have to remember the crucial importance of three little words — ‘I was wrong.’ That will take you a lot further than ‘I love you.’”
— Charlton Heston
After pondering what to do with my stash of birds for far too long, I decided to start a new series that I describe as “Crafted.” Here is an example — a 35th Anniversary present to my indispensable partner and dearest friend.
That Red Boot
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.375 x 7.25 inches
collection of Dana Dixon
September 2nd, 2017
It pleases me to announce that we shall open our studio and gallery to the public again during the first weekend of November. For more information, please visit our website or google map.
Saturday: Texas
August 26th, 2017
Saturday: Texas
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7 x 6.5 inches
Donate to Hurricane Harvey Relief Efforts
Creating collage artwork on a book cover
August 19th, 2017“A cold start is a hard start.”
— Stephen King
There must be a lot of ruined publications out there, because the “collage on book cover” has become a staple of the medium in recent years. I happen to live across the street from a public library, and I’ve been known to peek into their recycling bins from time to time. If the decisions of libraries are any indication, cast-off books will supply the needs of artists for quite a while, and I’m not talking about just covers. Perhaps the societal move from print to digital has in some measure fueled the explosion of collage worldwide. Much could be said about that alone, but let’s stay focused on the book cover.
As a substrate, it has all the aspects for which a collage artist is looking — strength, durability, unusual textures, and it often provides other desirable features, such as embossing, foil stamping, plus interesting typography that need not be superimposed. I will generally wrap my collage ingredients around the dimensions of the working surface, and this adds an “artifact” quality to the creation, because it takes on the perceptual properties of an actual object. Book covers can lend themselves to this effect.
For me, the book cover also triggers its own unique intuitive responses — unconscious associations that will “jump-start” the process in a more experimental way than the typical “blank canvas,” which invites more initial calculation. Any component of a publication has the vestiges of an anonymous designer’s preexisting sensibility. There is already a context, perhaps a pictorial or narrative allusion, but, at minimum, a tactile or color stimulus. It is not a cold origin.
There are times when a collage at the scale of a book cover will capture a microcosm of “the moment,” whether or not we can interpret all the elements at a rational level, whether or not we can ascribe “meaning” to it. I see many collage artworks that communicate little beyond “disorganization” or “chaos.” But there are others that probe deeper to the heart of something more significant, and are the result of an artistic intent at some level of mindfulness, even if it has not derived from a series of choices that involve an outer, deliberative awareness. Then again, it is dangerous for me to generalize about anything. Each creative process is distinctive. Discover yours!
Threshold Of Control
collage miniature on book cover by J A Dixon
7 x 10 inches
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This Side of Recklessness
collage miniature on book cover by J A Dixon
7 x 10 inches
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