Blanton Museum Writing II

The paints of LaFayette Maynard Dixon offer an abstract view of the endless Texan horizon and how nature has impacted this space. In “Top of the Ridge” and “Desert Ranges,” he uses simplified shapes and shadows to illustrate a feeling of peace, of absolute stillness. This feeling of calmness, much like the spirit of the Taniguchi garden, only exists because of the natural setting of the place. If the mountains in “Desert Ranges” were covered in roads and houses, the calmness of the space would not exist. In this regard all of Dixon’s celebrated uninhabited Texas country is a “garden.” One has to be open to experience this, however, and “if a man possess a pure or sensitivev heart, the pebbles and the grass can reveal their beauty to his eyes” (769). Dixon’s abstract style of painting and use of the Native American Hopi influences contributes to the larger-than-life attitude of this country its residents possess. In “Top of the Ridge,” Dixon emphasizes the importance of the cattle drives and longhorn in the development of Texas culture. While Frank Dobie strove for the same effect, he did so through ”the publications of the society and his writing” (814) glorifying old-time Texas. People like Dobie and Dixon are responsible for keeping this old-time Texas alive, even though some argue that “Texas will never accept its urban nature” (803). This state will always be unique, and Dixon’s bizarre – yet effective – style illustrates this individuality Texas possesses. I will always believe in the mythical side of Texas because I love that my state is so different. Dixon’s two paintings and their crazy paint strokes and colors make this difference all the more important. This makes my college “sense of place” (316) so much more personal. It will be the home to all my best memories, since reflective ability is tied to “times and space” (284). Nature is what is used in Dixon’s paintings to convey all of these feelings: peace, stillness, pride, sense of place, good memories, etc. Dixon, like Dobie, has taken the responsibility to preserve this Texas culture on himself so that future generations can relish in its glory.