Leap of Faith
collage on canvas by J A Dixon
11 x 14 inches
• S O L D
Leap of Faith
June 8th, 2015Contemplation Ajar ~ details
June 1st, 2015“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”
— John Wooden
One of my favorite things to do with an image of a collage is to explore alternative compositions by cropping. We can never stop training the eye. Visual ingredients are always elements in context and their character can change with different design relationships. The more we do this, the more a sense of balance and spatial harmony are internalized. As a bonus, any ideas that emerge can become the basis for new investigations.
four squares from Contemplation Ajar
collage on structured panel by J A Dixon
collection of J Wood
Another donation request?
May 25th, 2015“As artists, we have to lead from the heart.”
— Lee Harvey Osmond (aka Tom Wilson)
Previously, I have remarked about artists continually being pestered to donate their work to “worthy causes.” Personally unable to categorically refuse, as some do in principle, I have kept my contributions infrequent, close to home, and relatively small in scale. I know artists who can get dogmatic about this subject, not only steadfastly rebuffing all solicitations, but also insisting that others follow their lead. To be honest, I cannot say that they have failed to rationally argue their position. Even so, I think that artists, not unlike other professionals, should be able to find the proper place for occasional pro bono work, and each individual should be free to follow one’s heart. In addition, people who administer charitable, educational, and other nonprofit organizations might make a better effort to understand the issue from an artist’s point of view and to consider more carefully how their knee-jerk requests for free product serve to devalue creative labor.
And now for the anecdote: Once every two years, I create a collage for An Art-full Affair, our biennial effort to raise money for local arts scholarships. Each donation of artwork or creative service is matched by a ticket sale, admitting the buyer and her guest to a double-evening of festivities — a preview party and a gala drawing. The first name drawn gets to pick from every available donation on display, until there is only one ticket holder and one artwork remaining. Each item is guaranteed to be worth at least twice the value of the ticket price. For the artist, it is always suspenseful to see how early one’s piece is selected. For the supporter, there is the duel satisfaction of taking home a bargain while also helping deserving youngsters who would not be able otherwise experience art, music, drama, and dance. Nobody offers me more encouragement than my sister, Joan. Previously at the event, her name was not drawn early enough for her to pick my offering, but this time luck favored her wish list, and, when her name was announced, she selected my artwork. I was especially pleased. With this kind of thoughtfully organized event, everyone wins!
Contemplation Ajar
collage on structured panel by J A Dixon
20 x 15.75 inches
collection of J Wood
Gallery Hop Stop!
May 21st, 2015
White space ain’t a negative thing.
May 16th, 2015“Life is trying things to see if they work.”
– Ray Bradbury
A familiar approach to collage makes use of elements positioned on a field, activating the “white space” with a typical figure/ground relationship. Often the working substrate is carefully selected for inherent visual interest or aesthetic qualities. Like a visage with character, a single piece of “ancient” stock can speak volumes on its own. There are many other ways for “negative space” to play a key part in collage artwork. For me, experimenting with small studies in my journal can suggest a different twist, with the potential for exploitation in a more finished composition.
Untitled (IRA)
journal experiment by J A Dixon
4.375 x 4.25 inches
and another journal experiment . . .
May 9th, 2015
Untitled (Equal)
collage experiment by J A Dixon
9.5 x 8.25 inches
May 3rd, 2015
WYOMING
by Brendan Adkins
Leonard and I were in Wyoming just long enough to stop for gas off the Laramie exit.
The Vagina Monologues was my second college play, and The Laramie Project the second-to-last. They were the only times that I felt meaningful, in drama, loud and bright and kicking teeth. Every acting student in this decade has had those feelings about those plays. That doesn’t reduce their significance.
Laramie was an offhand pilgrimage, a place to throw the ashes of a twelve-year dream. I was done with acting. I’d begun to write.
Leaving, I bought a local newspaper: the Boomerang.
WYOMING is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
The Boomerang
collage miniature by J A Dixon, 4 x 5 inches
inspired by WYOMING
(Ommatidia, Thursday, January 26, 2006)
collection of B C Adkins
Drawing out the unfulfilled possibility
May 2nd, 2015“I am a great believer in the primacy of drawing as a means of engaging the world and understanding what you’re looking at.”
– Milton Glaser
“Why do you make collage artwork when you can draw?” People who broach the subject rarely come at it quite so directly, but even if they did, the question would not be any easier to answer. To begin with, I do indeed draw, and have since the dawn of memory, and I bring that ability to my work as an illustrator, portrait artist, watercolorist, and wood engraver. My enthusiasm for collage is rooted in something else — an impulse not entirely clear to me. I am grateful for all my talents, but I was educated and trained as a designer, and the practice has done more than enable me to create a life as an independent creative professional. It has become embedded in my consciousness. Decades of visual decisions have informed my responsive intuition. Collage is part design experimentation, part painterly expression, part artisanship, and part meditation. It is always a probing beyond expectations, an exploration of potentials, a harnessing of associations in flux. It can be the result of self assignment, but the most exciting effects often grow out of ritual. For me, it is never disconnected from what is taking form in my current journal. Not true artist’s sketchbooks (much as I have always hope they would evolve toward), they inevitably become a record of verbal and visual thoughts or non-thoughts. Some of my journal experiments combine techniques and mediums in ways that have not yet found manifestation outside their covers. Perhaps some day the question will be: “Why do you also draw in your collage artwork?”
Untitled (necklace)
journal experiment by J A Dixon
9.5 x 6.25 inches
Collage Miniature Collaboration Number Two
April 25th, 2015“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”
— Cesar A Cruz
The poet and activist surely was talking about something more significant than a collage collaboration, but his words apply. I can be the object of my own ease and distress when it comes to this sort of thing. Collaborations can be fulfilling when a meeting of minds is achieved, but they should be approached as experimental stretches. Safety has no place when solving these equations. Thanks, Allan, for another round of soothing discomfort!
Untitled (breech bloom)
a collage miniature collaboration by J A Dixon and A Bealy
(start by Bealy, finish by Dixon)
5 x 7 inches, collection of J A Dixon
Untitled (spare keys)
a collage miniature collaboration by J A Dixon and A Bealy
(start by Bealy, finish by Dixon)
5 x 7 inches, collection of A Bealy
As Seen On TV
April 18th, 2015“This was among some of the collaborations I received while I was going through chemo. I recently found some of the ones I had set aside when really sick and completely forgot about.”
– Ted Tollefson
While we’re on the subject of collage on coasters, a pleasant surprise explodes on the scene from an exemplar of the genre, Ted Tollefson. A prolific collaborator, Ted has impressed many of us working in the medium with his diversity of approach and an indefatigable spirit. Keep your eye on this guy!
As Seen On TV
collage on Budweiser coaster, 4 x 4 inches
(start by J A Dixon, finish by T Tollefson)
collection of T Tollefson
Molten Sky, Spotter’s Cry
April 12th, 2015“I have had a long time affection for the Martini action found in the large frame and small frame rifles.”
– David Simpson
Here is a gift collage on beer coaster for my favorite marksman (but he declined to use it for its intended celebratory purpose). I enjoy the miniature format so much that I never hesitate to try out a genre made famous by others. Any birthday coaster requires a tip o’ the cap to Ted Tollefson, does it not?
Molten Sky, Spotter’s Cry
birthday collage on Samuel Adams coaster
J A Dixon, 4 x 4 inches
collection of D Simpson