September 11-October 28, 2010
John
Dillon
Beginning September 11, the work of John Dillon will be on display at the Fairhope Unitarian Fellowship. A reception honoring Mr. Dillon will be held from 3-5 p.m. on that Saturday with music provided by Jeanine “Dr Jazz” Normand and refreshments by Joyce Burkhart. The public is cordially invited to attend.
Professor Emeritus John Dillon served on the faculty of the University of Alabama in Birmingham for 24 years. He was one of the original faculty members helping to establish the Department of Art in the early 1970s. He began his career in art after graduating from Auburn University with a degree in advertising design. He then spent five years as a commercial artist-illustrator, taught high school art for a year and then attended the University of Georgia where he received an MFA in 1968. He became an instructor of art at Jacksonville State University which was the beginning of a career dedicated to higher education. In 1972 he returned to his hometown where he began his work with the University of Alabama, Birmingham. John served as chair of the Department of Art from 1990 to 1991.
In the 90s John and his wife Kay purchased a home in Bon Secour to which they moved after his retirement. As he looked forward to retirement, Dillon increasingly turned to the natural world. His enchantment with the coastal environments included work done at Port St. Joe Beach as well as the changing and unchanging environments near Bon Secour. John and Kay are avid bird-watchers and supporters of wildlife rehabilitation.
John’s preferred
medium is printmaking but he claims the honor of being his “first love”
belongs to his motorcycle. In addition John plays guitar and a mean stringed
washtub bass. Work in this exhibition will include various media reflecting
his curiosity about the world around him, everything from nature to outer
space.
