Willard Dixon

Ace of Hearts

2023

Willard Dixon, who says "the charm of Still Life painting for the artist lies in the ability to manipulate ones subject matter and in the intimate, direct nature of the painting process. It is very much a studio-centric activity, complete and self-sufficient. The objects that one works with do seem to take on a life of their own, both by themselves and in their affinity for one another. They have a history, a patina, they may be new, or world-weary." The artist continues, "My collection has been substantially whittled down to an essential few over the years, yet their combinations seem infinite. There is a lengthy and persistent shuffling, adding and eliminating to find that particular combination that suddenly takes on a rightness or self-sufficiency. It is interesting how one small object of the right color in the right place can facilitate such an event, or in another case the removal of something, a simplifying. I have a feeling when composing these paintings similar to my experience of playing with my jazz...

Willard Dixon, who says "the charm of Still Life painting for the artist lies in the ability to manipulate ones subject matter and in the intimate, direct nature of the painting proc...

In this series of trompe-l'œil oil paintings, Willard Dixon realistically recreates images of mundane objects taped to colored walls, creating a minimalistic impression that the obj...

Willard Dixon, who says "the charm of Still Life painting for the artist lies in the ability to manipulate ones subject matter and in the intimate, direct nature of the painting proc...

My paintings begin with a serious sense of play, both in the staging and the creating of the compositions. It is at this beginning stage that I operate under the Dadaist dictate that “anything can be art”, and at the same time I seek out a balanced and harmonious composition by way of line, shape, and color. I work according to my whimsy, sometimes seeking to assert some form of narrative however personal or ambiguous, and other times I am simply satisfied with the hint of a human presence. Once I have my compositions the paintings then very quickly become about work, a very labor intensive work that forces me to focus my mind and slow things down (which I feel is relevant especially in this day and age of high-speed everything). A great amount of effort is spent on trying to get to the highest level of finish that is possible according to my current skill level. For inspiration I have drawn from the past four centuries of object specific paintings, from the ontbijtjes (laid tables) of the 17th Century Dutch masters such as Willem Kalf, Jan Davidsz de Heem, Abraham van Beijeren...

This still life painting composed of oil on canvas is by well-known contemporary realist Langdon Quin (1948- ). The painting was done in 1984. It measures...

Artist: Dana Loomis Title: Attributes of Art Year: 1984 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and titled in marker Size: 40 in. x 46 in. (101.6 cm x 116.84 cm) Frame Size: 41 x 47 inches

"The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away, comfortably enough, under her arm, with its legs hanging down,...