Maybeland
collage artwork by J A Dixon
11.875 x 8.875 inches
available to collectors
Archive for the ‘1) Available!’ Category
Can collage evoke a story?
Wednesday, July 31st, 2024For the record . . .
Sunday, July 14th, 2024I am comfortable with art containing visual ingredients that represent a spectrum from the greatest evil to the highest good, but it always bugs me to see a collage artist traffic in the shock that comes with merely taking a “cheap shot” or “low blow” at religious imagery.
Painting the town again. (With paper!)
Sunday, June 30th, 2024“Yes, I hustle, I hustle to live with the intensity that only maturity can give.”
— Anthony Hopkins
The plein air tradition is alive and well in Central Kentucky. My thanks to Arts Connect for an outstanding “Paint the Town” event, with sincere appreciation to juror James Swanson for his recognition of collage as a plein air medium. A 2nd-place prize was quite unexpected, because it was everything I could do to meet their timetable in the extreme heat. All artwork had to be delivered framed and ready for immediate display by the 8am to 2pm deadline.
This event is always challenging for me, because I rarely need to paste as fast as I must for such a rigorous pace. Every time I go outside to create a collage landscape, adequate preparation is important, and then I try to be as spontaneous as I can with the materials that I bring. For this annual competition, the chosen scene is carefully scouted. I make more “prepared ingredients” ahead of time. That usually means additional printed-text gel transfers on a range of colored papers. You may have seen how I often include them for facade patterns, foregrounds, and foliage. Dana (my indispensable partner) dug out some of her mid-century carpet thread for my mobile stash, and I used it during the final minutes for utility wires.
The resulting exhibition is at the downtown branch of Lexington Public Library. For as long as it lasts, please view the artworks online to see a strong body of landscapes completed on that hot day. Buy one!
Ode to Grain
collage en plein air by J A Dixon
100% / 0% — site to studio
10 x 10 inches + wood frame, crafted by the artist
available for purchase
• Second Place Prize
April Burst
Wednesday, May 8th, 2024“Confidence comes not from always being right, but from not fearing being wrong.”
— Peter McIntyre
It has been too “moist” this week for me to make art with paper outside, so I did my studio finish to the collage that I had started at a previous Art Out. Whether or not it is apparent to others, I try to do something different each time, an interpretation or radical ingredient choice that causes discomfort at first. I think it’s important to momentarily frighten myself. Then I know that I might be breaking new ground.
April Burst
collage en plein air by J A Dixon
Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky
available for purchase
Capturing an Arcadian Sky
Monday, March 25th, 2024“I have learned to expect nothing of the weather
but what it gives us.”
— Rockwell Kent
Last September at nearby Arcadia Farm, I fell under the spell of a horizon and stuck with the mood of early-morning clouds for the rest of the session. With the prevailing heat, other members of the PAACK may have been praying for more breeze, but I was grateful for hours of no wind. I wasn’t even using clothespins! I wanted to interpret the viewscape as that huge land grant might’ve looked to the original Shelby family in the 1700s. Although pleased with the result that I took home, I knew I wanted to make studio additions at the base of the artwork before declaring it ready for a signature. And so here we are, March of 2024. As I look ahead to a new season of taking collage outside, it made sense to finally complete the studio refinements on one of my favorite landscapes from 2023.
Arcadian Sky
collage en plein air by J A Dixon
11.375 x 7.875 inches
available to collectors
Unprotected Speech
Friday, March 22nd, 2024
Unprotected Speech
collage catharsis by J A Dixon
6.75 x 8.875 inches
available to collectors
a dry shoal and “Vacation Merz”
Wednesday, January 31st, 2024Looking back to when I was in Upper Michigan last year… In addition to making collage landscapes outside, I exploited whatever paper fragments were at hand in the cabin. The result was this experiment in color, form, and counterpoint. Those familiar with the history of collage as a modern art will understand why I think of it as “Vacation Merz.”
Untitled (dry shoal)
collage experiment by J A Dixon
9.3125 x 11 inches
available for purchase
Down Side Up
Monday, January 8th, 2024
Down Side Up
collage catharsis on book cover by J A Dixon
12.5 x 8.75 inches
available for purchase
Now offering collector-quality glicée prints
Friday, November 10th, 2023The LITTER-ALLY KENTUCKY collection was conceived and funded as a traveling exhibition. While the original body of work is not currently for sale, all sixteen collage landscape artworks are available as affordable frame-worthy glicée reproductions printed on archival stock.
Despite patrons’ asking for them over the years, offering prints is a first for me — other than at note card size. The high standards I was looking for have been met by Fine Art Editions Gallery & Press of Georgetown, Kentucky. Owner John S Hockensmith, well-known photographic artist who fine-tuned an advanced giclée process for his own exacting requirements, has made his exceptional quality available for my work. I’m gratified to be one of a limited number of Kentucky artists with whom he has chosen to collaborate.
Due to the nature of the ingredients and constraints of working en plein air, my originals are typically small. Without loss of detail, these glicée enlargements capture the dimensionality of my collage technique and reveal subtleties of pasted layers and torn text. You can purchase individual prints at 150% enlargement on standard acid-free vellum stock for $275. The entire LITTER-ALLY KENTUCKY group of artworks can be acquired as a collector set printed on Japanese paper and housed in an archival box for $3500; individual works printed on the same handmade paper are available for $295 each.
A Cyclic Occurence
Monday, June 5th, 2023“The healthiest response to life is joy.”
– Mark Twain
If we understand anything about the many strong characteristics of collage as an artistic activity, we surely know that it has significant therapeutic attributes. I came into the studio to shrug off some negative vibes and to create a pair of new miniatures for an upcoming gallery hop at nearby CAMP. Connie Beale, fellow collage artist and owner of the unique retail space, had just sold two of my paper landscapes the previous week, so replacements were in order. I wanted to use a bright palette and appealing fauna as ingredients. Could I bring a bit of delight to my disposition and to anyone who showed up to discuss the result?
Mission accomplished!
A Cyclic Crunch
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7 x 8.5 inches
available for purchase
A Cyclic Hum
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7 x 8.5 inches
available for purchase
First Gallery of Collage Landscapes
Wednesday, March 8th, 2023
Thanks for your interest in my collage landscapes. Click on each thumbnail to view a larger image. Click here to scroll the original blog posts.
View the LITTER-ALLY KENTUCKY collection, too!
