Archive for the ‘Gift Art’ Category
Sunday, May 21st, 2017
As I have done every other spring for a number of years, I create an artwork for an event sponsored by the Arts Commission of Danville / Boyle County — An Art-full Affair, our biennual push to raise dollars for local arts scholarships. Each donation of artwork or creative service is matched by a ticket sale that admits a buyer and her guest to back-to-back parties — a Friday preview and a Saturday drawing. The first name pulled from the jar is able to pick from every available donation on display, until there is only one ticket holder and one item remaining. Each prize is guaranteed to be worth at least twice the value of the $100 admission. In addition, the final evening is broken up by two live auctions.
There are artists who, based on a perspective of refusing to support exploitation, are unwilling to contribute artwork to a charitable cause. I’ll admit that many people who run non-profit organizations can be cavalier about the value of creative labor, but nobody will ever take advantage of artists without their consent and participation. When I look at the deep tradition of pro-bono work in America, the adamant stance of certain creatives strikes me as “a tempest in a teapot.” I make my art donations infrequent and always local. I confess to taking satisfaction from helping a deserving youngster who otherwise would not be able to experience art, music, drama, or dance. It has nothing to do with exposure or professional advancement — a silly motivation from my point of view.
To Peach Is Owed was taken home by Kristin and Brandon Long, a pair of wonderful artists who preside over the most “art-full” family I know. A great outcome ~ a fun time ~ a worthy enterprise!
Two square details of the peach-themed collage artwork
were posted to the Instagram page of The Collage Miniaturist.
To Peach Is Owed
collage on structured panel by J A Dixon
inset into handcrafted frame from salvaged wood
18 x 20.5 inches
collection of the Long Family
Posted in B Long, Collage, Details, Events, Fruit Series, Fundraising, Gift Art, J A Dixon, Theme/Variation | No Comments »
Sunday, May 14th, 2017
I am convinced that supporting the arts makes for a more livable community, and calls for generosity, so I took part in the local Community Arts Center’s Art-A-Thon campaign this spring.
The CAC funds summer art-camps for young people, plus many worthwhile programs to nurture personal creativity in every segment of a diverse community. As part of the Art-A-Thon, I demonstrated my technique during a full day of arts activities in downtown Danville, working on collage miniatures and putting the finishing touches on my contribution to the Art-full Affair (the other big fundraising event this month, sponsored by the Arts Commission of Danville / Boyle County). More thoughts to come about To Peach Is Owed, my newest collage on structured panel.
My sincere “thank you” to everyone who helped me reach my Art-A-Thon goal. Your generosity is an inspiration! The last time I looked, the Arts Center had exceeded its target by nearly 50%, and my “team” landed in seventh place with $526 raised. Special appreciation to Katie Blake, who sent a generous donation all the way from Alaska!
I kept my nose to the collage grindstone all afternoon
at the local Art-A-Thon event on Saturday, May 13th,
and put some final touches on To Peach Is Owed, my
donation to the Art-full Affair drawing for art scholarships.
(photo by Kendra Peek)
Posted in Demonstrations, Events, Fruit Series, Fundraising, Gift Art, J A Dixon, Technique | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 28th, 2016
“Art is worthless unless it plants a measure of
splendor in people’s hearts.”
—Taha Muhammad Ali
There are few creative pastimes more fulfilling than directing one’s practice into a personal gift of art. Robykana, a collage on panel, is a housewarming present for two of our most hospitable of friends. Its title derives from the name of their new dwelling, perched upon a Kentucky River overlook with, at best, only a handful of rivals in the Bluegrass. It is the kind of sanctuary many would keep to themselves, but our friends take quite the opposite approach. My grateful response can only be to create a composition packed with private references, symbolic meanings, and secret allusions. Needless to say, a collage artist will use the process as an opportunity for intuitive spontaneity and the working out of ongoing aesthetic considerations. Without fail, this kind of intimate enterprise gives rise to ideas for new investigations, and, happily, it becomes a gift to myself as well.
Robykana
collage on panel by J A Dixon
23 x 17 inches
collection of S & R Hempel
Posted in Gift Art, J A Dixon, Larger Works | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 26th, 2016
“My amazing, wonderful father has just been diagnosed with esophageal cancer that seems to have spread. Please include him in your thoughts and prayers. We can use all the positive energy you can send.”
— Susan Unruh
“Jack has been the yardstick that almost every illustrator/designer (certainly in the Southwest) has used to measure his or her own level of accomplishment.”
— Woody Pirtle
When the wide world of artists found out that Jack Unruh, the modern master of pen illustration, was facing an aggressive disease, it became the catalyst for a phenomenal outpouring of love and creativity. There must be countless individuals like me, who have never met him or worked with him, and yet we are pulling for him every day, because the singularity of his vision, the authenticity of his approach, and the affection for subject that he communicates — all have left a deep impression for many years. In sync with many creative professionals, I have joined the surge of “hearts beating a path to his door” in Texas.
If you want to send Jack a heart, too, his address easily can be found at his fabulous website.
A Heart for Jack Unruh
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5.5 x 5.25 inches
Posted in Gift Art, J A Dixon, J Unruh | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 25th, 2016
“The Japanese word yugen means ‘aesthetically mysterious.’ We don’t have a word like this to describe art in the Western art world. Yugen as a concept worries some because it describes an intangible. It says ‘awe’ and ‘mystery’ can also be qualitative aesthetics, and the beauty of this is that though yugen is a Japanese word what it describes is universal in reach. Though a refined concept, it is an everyman’s word because it describes perfectly a good deal of the art the entire world makes to achieve personal and cultural satisfaction. In a time when we are 1% and 99% sensitive, let us indeed remember that the art mainstream, the academic discourse, the intellectual game of art about art, the ivory tower is only 1% of why the world makes art.”
— Randall Morris
For the second consecutive year, I had the opportunity to create a collage as prize art for the preeminent single-shot rifle match held in Kentucky. Visitors to this blogsite know my ongoing fascination with collage as an ideal medium for total spontaneity. Of course, it also lends itself perfectly to a planned, thematic solution for specific appeal.
I discovered enough ingredients in my stash of papers to cover the Australian topic, but also to entertain a desired level of synchronicity to encompass a few distinctive characteristics of the event. In addition to my personal enjoyment, I am always pleased to see the positive response to collage as art. It has to be more than the element of the unexpected, although, admittedly, collage is never what people anticipate in these situations. I think it may be the particular combination of accessibility, interactivity, and “mystery” so inherent in the medium. I suppose there is more to said about that, but we shall save it for another day.
Spencer Gulf
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7 x 9.5 inches
prize art for The Great .310 Australian Cadet Martini Match of 2016
awarded to D Simpson
Posted in Collage, Gift Art, Ingredients, J A Dixon, Merz, Methodology, Morgue | No Comments »
Saturday, April 2nd, 2016
With my 31-day ritual of experimentation having come to a close, it’s time to catch up on a few other things that happened during the month of March. Here’s a birthday gift for my collage pal from Richmond, Kentucky, Robert Hugh Hunt:
The Puzzle
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7.75 x 8.75 inches
birthday art for R H Hunt
Posted in Gift Art, J A Dixon, R H Hunt | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2015
“Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.”
– Stephen Sondhiem
I was in the “Seasonal Zone,” listening to music and making a batch of hand-made greetings and collage miniatures. I began to recycle Christmas cards from previous years, and I had the idea of trying to visually merge two different but similar images. Nothing seemed to go right as my technique played out. One cannot anticipate nor contrive the “fortunate accidents” inherent in the medium. The resulting effect reminds me of an aging fresco, as if an artist had painted a Madonna and Child over another, with the decay of time and weather taking over. I rarely think too much about these things in process, with reflection arriving later. I especially enjoy when others make observations and symbolic associations of their own. Overall, I think my sweet obsession with collage may be about trying to bring some kind of harmony out of the sense of disorder that pervades much of modern perception, although I should hesitate to generalize about my personal state of being and apply it to the world.
Tender and Wild
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7 x 9.5 inches
private collection
Posted in Collage, Experiments, Gift Art, Holidays, J A Dixon, Methodology, Music, Technique | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 16th, 2015
“Man himself is mute, and it is the image that speaks. For it is obvious that the image alone can keep pace with nature.”
— Boris Pasternak
I have come to the point where nearly all of my December gifts are hand-crafted items, many of which feature experimental images of one sort or another. Some end up being studies for larger works. Shown below are a couple of little artifacts that have resulted so far from my lead-up to the holidays — examples of how gift art can hover between descriptive categories. Both are more than greeting-card covers, but not advanced enough to be called true collage miniatures. Intrinsic value is always a matter of opinion, but, at any rate, people usually appreciate being invited into the artistic process.
two small, year-end gifts
collage artifacts by J A Dixon
(click to view larger)
Posted in Artifacts, Experiments, Gift Art, Holidays, J A Dixon | No Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2015
The Mind of FRON
collage miniature by J A Dixon
7 x 9 inches
collection of J L Dixon
Posted in Gift Art, J A Dixon | No Comments »
