Archive for the ‘Thematic Series’ Category

uncommon kindness . . .

Thursday, August 7th, 2014

An artist can anticipate nothing more gratifying than to form a sincere connection to another — someone who will discover satisfaction or meaning in one’s creation. As many collage practitioners already know, it is not a frequent experience for those of us who cannot bring ourselves to pander. It is more irregular to find a buyer who wants to live with an artwork. And beyond the satisfaction of a sale, there are those uncommon times when a corresponding creative act takes place in response, and one is the recipient of a profound kindness.

An Art Form Called Collage
by Patty Seitz

Images placed upon a blank paper just so
Or perhaps they were just placed
With no particular pattern in mind
The story emerging on its own
Developing as each image is carefully cut
Then positioned by the artist
By themselves they speak one message
Placed together they speak another
The dictionary says these are
“Various materials not normally associated with one another”
But when we see them together
Their association seems to have existed for a life time
And they bond as if they will never be apart again
Together they speak one language
Using each individual voice to create a harmony
That is most pleasing to the eye

 

Silk Road Triumphant
collage miniature by J A Dixon
6.5 x 8 inches
collection of P B Seitz

An end is perhaps the beginning

Saturday, May 10th, 2014

“What the Color Field painters shared most importantly with the Abstract Expressionists was the conviction that the role of art was not to report on the visible, but to reveal the unknown. They shared too, the belief that paintings that resembled nothing preexisting could have the presence, authority and associative richness of other real things in the world.”
— Karen Wilkin

I began my Bibelot Series by recalling to mind the lost treasures of George Headley. With this 13th miniature, I am wondering if the meditation may have reached its culmination. The primary reason centers on the changes that occurred with my process while creating this most recent composition. Because I find myself thinking less about the precious fabrications that provided the initial inspiration and more about the aesthetic qualities of the artifact manifesting before me, the connection to the Headley works have diminished enough for me to consider whether or not the transition to a new investigation is taking place. The color and abstract relationships inherent in an evolving collage surface seem to exist for their own sake, rather than as an homage to other artistic ideas, and point to a deeper reality. What comes next? As a student of American History, the number 13 has never felt unlucky to me. We shall see what follows.
 

Spy (Bibelot 848)
collage miniature by J A Dixon
4 x 5.5 inches
 
Purchase this artwork!

Exalted Beast

Monday, April 7th, 2014

 

Exalted Beast
collage miniature by J A Dixon
8 x 10 inches
collection of T Strock

March Exercise  |  year nine, day nineteen

Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

 

Silk Road Calculations
collage miniature by J A Dixon
6 x 7.875 inches
 
Purchase this artwork!

March Exercise  |  year nine, day sixteen

Sunday, March 16th, 2014

 

journal experiment:
harmonious balance of counterpoise


 

 

Refine (Bibelot 632)
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5 x 6 inches
 
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March Exercise  |  year nine, day fifteen

Saturday, March 15th, 2014

 

journal experiment:
dynamics of color and space


 

 

Silk Road Dialogues
collage miniature by J A Dixon
6 x 8 inches
 
Purchase this artwork!

March Exercise  |  year nine, day thirteen

Thursday, March 13th, 2014

 

journal experiment:
activation of space


 

 

Ascend (Bibelot 136)
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5 x 6 inches
 
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March Exercise  |  year nine, day twelve

Wednesday, March 12th, 2014

 

journal experiment:
color, depth, density


 

 

Awaken (Bibelot 409)
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5 x 6 inches
 
Purchase this artwork!

March Exercise  |  year nine, day five

Wednesday, March 5th, 2014

 

journal experiment:
activation of space


 

 

Circumvent (Bibelot 572)
collage miniature by J A Dixon
5 x 6 inches
 
Purchase this artwork!

Sovereign Creature

Monday, January 13th, 2014

An atypical subject-oriented collage, but, with this one, I wanted to focus on something of favored interest to my daughter. Gift art is always an opportunity to put any ruts in the rearview mirror, especially at the cusp of a new cycle.
 

Sovereign Creature
collage miniature by J A Dixon
8 x 10 inches
collection of T Strock

Bibelot Series

Tuesday, November 5th, 2013

“The museum suffered a crisis in July 1994, when burglars broke into the jewel room and stole 103 pieces worth $1.6 million, including most of the bibelot collection. The biggest art heist in Kentucky history remained a mystery for five years, and then a group of Ohio thieves was caught and convicted. Unfortunately, the bibelots apparently had been dismantled and sold as scrap for a fraction of their value.”
— Tom Eblen, Lexington Herald-Leader

I made a visit to the Jewel Room at the Headley-Whitney Museum only once, many years ago, and I was deeply inspired by the capacity to bring raw imagination into physical manifestation. The heartbreaking theft of numerous bibelot masterworks makes it nearly impossible for me to return and view a diminished collection. I have dedicated this series of miniatures to my vivid memory of what used to be.
 


 

 

 

Dedicated to the lost masterworks of George Headley.
Click on a thumbnail image to preview each miniature.