My name is Darla Dixon. I have been creating art since the age of 3, with my epic work 'A Bird Flying To Its Nest,' which my mother saved, even though the bird looked like a really chubby bumblebee.
I have been working professionally in art for the past 16+ years. "Working professionally in art" is just a less gauche way of saying "I'm selling my art, please - for the love of everything holy, buy my art!"
Most of my commissioned work has been high quality portraits created in graphite pencil. Some of my early work was low quality, but we don't need to talk about that right now.
Recently, I've felt the need to expand my creativity and have been creating collages and assemblages.
Assemblages are basically works of collage, but when I add things that are beyond ordinary paper (like actual antique photos, advertisements, and objects like screwdrivers) I consider them to be assemblages.
I do most of my collage work on gallery-wrapped canvas, which eliminates the need for a frame. The paint or the collage goes around the edges of the canvas, and it adds extra interest. They are definitely great conversation pieces. If you have an idea for a collage, please let me know.
My collage and assemblage process comes from a fragment of an idea, and I visualize the colors that will express the idea and the mood of it that I want to express. I tend to find one photo or clipping that is the springboard for the message. It's kind of like gazing at clouds and seeing shapes in them. I hold the pieces that I know I really want to include, and I let them lead me.
I am enjoying that it is more of an artistic and a journey of emotional expression than my drawings in pencil are, as the pencil portraits are based on photographs the client provides and there is less creativity in that overall, because the portraits are traditional realism.
I love all kinds of art and trying out different art materials. Thanks for reading and for considering becoming a patron of living artists.
“Stick to art.” ~DaveRussell, art patron using a fake name
