From Mozart's guitar to toys in the attic, this Plymouth artist reshapes life experiences

SCITUATE − It's such an imaginative and fun way of pushing back against the time pressures we all feel.

Make yourself a clock without numbers. Place the word "now" eight times around the clock circle where the hour hand would sweep by.

Tick tock transcendence. Living in the moment.

That's what J. Dixon Bergman, 84, is doing later in life and expresses in his piece "Clock Never Wrong." It is one of 41 inventive, reflective and often humorous artworks he has on display at the Scituate Senior Center, 333 First Parish Road, through August. And all that is just part of his repertoire of 3D, cubism, sculpture and assemblage.

Many of his works use parts from guitars, pianos, old computers and other objects, such as a tintype of a girl, found in thrift stores, basements, attics and antique shops. And there's always online.

Another piece, called "Not Yet Time," combines a clock case found in a dumpster with a 1954 wood carving by his grandfather Eric Bergman with the image of a woman waving, taken from one of Dixon's own oil paintings in 1960.

Assemblage with heart.

Last Friday, as people walked down the first-floor hallway of the senior center to the cafe, they passed Dixon's art exhibit on the walls. Three women looked, smiled, made positive comments and kept going. A couple stopped so the woman could snap cellphone photos of "Clock Never Wrong."

"I love that," she said.

His message, Dixon later said, is this: "Now is the only time we have. It is always now. Numbers on a clock are irrelevant. Measure life by the good that unfolds, not hours or years."

It's a timely message for all ages, especially seniors.

"There really have been many positive comments, an enthusiastic response to the art, along with interest in the artist and how he creates the artwork," senior center director Linda Hayes said.

Dixon, who lives in Plymouth with his wife, Terry Hamilton, has been making art in one way or another since studying mechanical engineering at Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he graduated in 1960.

A former math teacher, engineer, computer salesman and advertising/marketing executive, he has immersed himself in his art in retirement. Into his mid-80s, he remains energetic and creative.

"Ideas are coming faster now than back when I was jammed to get things done," he said. "Age has me listening more. I'm less impulsive because I don't have to rush to accomplish project ideas within the boundaries of the clock."

His exhibit includes a colorful sequence of how guitars and piano parts can be combined. "Baby Grand Guitar" pairs a piano keyboard with a guitar's sound hole and fretboard. "Wired for Sound," in bold green, has piano pedals playing on a guitar body, with tuning pegs attached. "Tangerine Tango" is similar with rich, earthy orange/browns; "Duet for Guitar and Piano" is a brilliant blue version.

In a tour of his studio last week, Dixon spoke about why he does this. Describing "My B Flat Piano," he said:

"It is made all of piano parts, with parts assembled to still say piano, but it has a new visual theme, a new architecture. I had the joy of taking a piano apart and discovered all the beauty of the elements."

Another piece is titled "Mozart's Guitar."

"People say, 'Mozart didn't have a guitar.' That's why we put piano parts in there. You get the rhythms and variations and theme of the natural piano, the beauty of the construction."

That piece, he said, was the beginning of marrying guitars and piano parts.

Dixon, an affable man with a friendly, open expression, works five or six hours a day in his lower-level studio or the garage workshop at his home at White Cliffs. Furniture drawers are filled with glues, adhesives, staples, wire, razor blades, computer parts and musical instruments.

"I do a lot of gluing and spray-painting, acrylics, brush work and I may move back and forth between five or six projects at a time," he said.

He clearly has "a driving force to get it done." Terry, his wife, said he wakes up full of ideas.

He described his goal each day: "You have a vision, how do they go together? Can I cut them? Can I fit them? Sometimes I stare at the work for 10 to 15 minutes, looking at it.

"I often have no idea of what is happening. The mind just brings you on the journey from one little project to the next. I don't feel anything when I am doing what I'm doing. The mind goes to the project and not to the (arthritic) elbow or the knee joints."

Terry goes off for morning exercise, reads and cooks while he is busy in his studio downstairs. They walk most every day and play golf together.

"He's very energetic, always happy," she said, "always fun to be around."

Thank you to Bobbie Sullivan, a quilt artist who lives near Bergman, for the tip. I wrote about Sullivan's historical World War I letters quilt years ago; she also does landscape quilts.

"It's been fun seeing what he comes up with next," she emailed. "He makes you smile."

Dixon Bergman will speak about his work process at the Scituate Senior Center Men's Breakfast (Ladies Invited) at 9 a.m. Aug. 8. The cost is $5. Reservations are requested; call 781-545-8722.

Reach Dixon Bergman by emailing dixonbergman@comcast.net; visit his website at dixondoesit.com.

Scituate art gallery honors Joanne Vignoni Papandrea

The Artist Gallery at the Scituate Senior Center has been named in honor of Joanne Vignoni Papandrea, a beloved artist and teacher who died of cancer at age 77 in 2020.

Accomplished in many areas, she enjoyed teaching seniors because "they are so thirsty to learn." Papandrea knew a wide network of artists and organized sales and exhibits to raise money for the new senior center.

"Joanne's dedication to art/painting and her students was amazing and she was so generous with her work and talent," senior center director Linda Hayes said.

Remembering Rosario "Charlie" Santoro

On May 16, I wrote about Rosario "Charlie" and Betty Santoro, of Quincy, who had been married 75 years and had recently moved to assisted living at Atria Marina Place. I am so thankful I was able to meet them then.

Charlie died June 27 at age 98 at the Brockton Veterans Administration Hospital. His obituary noted that he was "the last surviving member of his siblings and of the 'The Fighting Santoros,' eight brothers who all served in the military in WWII. ... He was a very proud man, first and foremost of his family and as a Navy veteran of WWII."

"I've had a good life, a good family, I am a happy man," Charlie said when I interviewed him. Thank you, Charlie, for your service and for your family.

Reach Sue Scheible at sscheible@patriotledger.com.  

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Plymouth artist Dixon Bergman, 84, transcends time in Scituate exhibit