“Never lose sight of love and kindness for family, clan, and friends. Family comes first and many times we make it, or seem to make it, last.”
— John Edward Dixon
This would be my father’s 90th birthday, had he not been lost to us nearly 20 years ago. For the rest of my life I shall create pictures of him. Of course, I can’t know what he’d think of that, but I suspect his feelings would be mixed. Modest enough to be uncomfortable with the practice, he probably would have approved, on the other hand, of my using his image as a mechanism for continuous artistic investigation. It’s natural for me to think about him on his birthday and how enhanced my life would be if I still had access to his wisdom, evolving perspective, and keen sense of leadership. Whether we comprehend it or not, each of us has a meaningful influence by our very presence in the drama of existence, affecting our world and others in countless ways. Perhaps our departures from the stage will be less profound than his, depending on how each of us has played our part. When one is as beloved as my namesake, the absence is a deeply felt void which sends wide ripples across the surface of family life. And so, it is a day for me to pay tribute, in the springtime he cherished, and to declare that I shall love him forever.
Variations on a Theme by Grandybo, Part Eight
mixed-media collage by J A Dixon, 2006
collection of A Kenner