This first image was from the ‘Transience and Eternity’, Angie Dixon’s exhibition at Foster/White in the 1990’s. It was a combination of installation and paintings. It was about creation and the formation of everything before it becomes tangible. The paintings were meant to be of the actual tangible results of the creative formation. The installation was black and white, the paintings were in color.
Angie Dixon studied art at the University of Washington where she received two degrees: one in fine arts and the other in art history. Dixon was one of the first 24 Americans accepted into the art school to study classic Chinese Landscape Painting and other Chinese painting and calligraphy in Hangzhou, the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in the people’s Republic of China. She continued with graduate studies in the People’s Republic of China at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1984.
I eavesdropped on Dixon’s Beginning Sumi workshop last weekend, and heard her talk about studying from the old master ink and brush painters. Dixon is a deeply respectful person, especially when it comes to issues around cross-culture, education, and traditions – so this caught my ear: “You had to do what the masters said, exactly what they said, and not deviate.” She continued:
At the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, students were asked to copy the teacher’s work, and you were only supposed to have one teacher. If you didn’t copy it exactly they’d have you do it again. After much study, Dixon said that one day the teacher told her to do it again, because she had failed to make an exact copy. She said “Ok, show me how it’s done.” The teacher attempted to make a copy of his own work, and failed. She learned from that, and decided to respect the knowledge that had been shared with her, and go her own way. Dixon branched out to study more styles and approaches from many more teachers for sumi all across Asia, and now has a contemporary voice to her ink, combining various Eastern and Western methods.
Dixon has a talent and a passion for teaching, and we are fortunate to be able to learn from her vast knowledge and experiences in sumi brush painting. This weekend starts a 2 Day workshop, by request of her students. Sumi II is for anyone who already has some experience with sumi, so students will have more opportunity to broaden and improve their techniques, and take their brushwork to the next level.
A sneak preview of artworks for my upcoming show Ruthie V. Some Pretty Paintings A collection of figures and flowers in paintings and prints Show opens January 5, 2019 …
Sometimes I wonder what happens to artworks after a class ends. Kate Fluckinger sent out an invitation including some paintings I recognized from Padlet. She’s having a show, and some …
Victorians combined images from multiple negatives to create portraits known as “Headless Photographs.” (19th century) Not one cracked a smile. If Victorians had Facebook, would they have posted this? …
[image_with_animation image_url=”7537″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Look around you. If you were a travel agency, hoping to entice someone to this place, what would you put on the postcard? Draw, …
Sumi Installations, by Angie Dixon
This first image was from the ‘Transience and Eternity’, Angie Dixon’s exhibition at Foster/White in the 1990’s. It was a combination of installation and paintings. It was about creation and the formation of everything before it becomes tangible. The paintings were meant to be of the actual tangible results of the creative formation. The installation was black and white, the paintings were in color.
Angie Dixon studied art at the University of Washington where she received two degrees: one in fine arts and the other in art history. Dixon was one of the first 24 Americans accepted into the art school to study classic Chinese Landscape Painting and other Chinese painting and calligraphy in Hangzhou, the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in the people’s Republic of China. She continued with graduate studies in the People’s Republic of China at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1984.
I eavesdropped on Dixon’s Beginning Sumi workshop last weekend, and heard her talk about studying from the old master ink and brush painters. Dixon is a deeply respectful person, especially when it comes to issues around cross-culture, education, and traditions – so this caught my ear: “You had to do what the masters said, exactly what they said, and not deviate.” She continued:
At the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, students were asked to copy the teacher’s work, and you were only supposed to have one teacher. If you didn’t copy it exactly they’d have you do it again. After much study, Dixon said that one day the teacher told her to do it again, because she had failed to make an exact copy. She said “Ok, show me how it’s done.” The teacher attempted to make a copy of his own work, and failed. She learned from that, and decided to respect the knowledge that had been shared with her, and go her own way. Dixon branched out to study more styles and approaches from many more teachers for sumi all across Asia, and now has a contemporary voice to her ink, combining various Eastern and Western methods.
Dixon has a talent and a passion for teaching, and we are fortunate to be able to learn from her vast knowledge and experiences in sumi brush painting. This weekend starts a 2 Day workshop, by request of her students. Sumi II is for anyone who already has some experience with sumi, so students will have more opportunity to broaden and improve their techniques, and take their brushwork to the next level.
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