Women Who Paint – Dayna J Collins

At Long Last: Two Online Oil and Cold Wax Classes

It has been a long time in coming, but I am happy to announce that I was invited to teach an online oil and cold wax class and the platform aligns with how I envisioned I would like to teach if I ever chose to teach online. Classes are taught live through Zoom (with recordings available to watch for 60 days).

Martha at Winslow Art Center reached out to me about a month ago to see if I would be interested in teaching with their online art school. Here is a little about the Winslow Art Center:

Winslow Art Center, a young and innovative art school established in 2011, is the creation of its owner/director, Martha Jordan. Originally founded as a brick-and-mortar art studio on Bainbridge Island, 5 miles across Puget Sound from Seattle, Martha’s vision was to offer small and intimate, live multi-day workshops and weekly art classes taught by world class professionals, and to supplement those classes in the Spring and Fall by offering overseas art tours to Italy led by the same instructors. The school and tours were popular and expanding when the Covid pandemic brought the world, and the Center, to a halt.

Martha, with the help of her daughters Anne, Amy and Addie and web designer Kato D, visualized real-time online classes happening over Zoom, putting in long hours to learn the new technologies while convincing instructors and students that distance teaching online could be both viable and rewarding. Martha’s dedication to helping others use the new online tools thrust upon us has been a major component of Winslow Art Center’s success. The results have exceeded even Martha’s wildest expectations. Today the Center offers nearly 80 online classes with instructors recognized as leaders in their chosen media. Moreover, the Center has graduated from a regional to a truly international school with instructors and students participating from across the United States and around the world.

After digging into the website of the art center, I excitedly accepted the offer and we decided I would start by teaching an online version of my popular oil and cold wax class. My inaugural class is a teaser, An Intro to Oil and Cold Wax. This one is part of the art center’s popular Technique Takeaways, a 1-1/2 hour online class that offers a look at a particular art technique. My description of this intro class:

Painting with oil paint mixed with cold wax medium is like painting with whipped butter. It is soft and creamy, and when dry, it can be buffed to a beautiful sheen. In this 1-1/2 hour demo, Dayna will share about the many benefits of using cold wax medium with oil paint, share mixing ratios, methods for applying paint with putty and palette knives, how to speed up drying time, and offer a sampling of creative techniques. (There will be time for Q & A after the presentation.)

This mini class is scheduled for Friday, May 31, from 2-3:30 pm (Pacific time) with a cost of $40.

The main class I’m teaching, Wild and Free Abstracted Landscapes in Oil and Cold Wax, will be a complete class on all aspects of painting with oil and cold wax. This class covers everything from mixing demonstrations, a variety of techniques, and discussions about color, value, composition, and design elements. In addition, there will be discussions and demos about how to make more powerful compositions, add interest to our pieces, and how know when a painting is done.

One of the great things about this platform besides my teaching live and being able to interact with students in real time, is a private message board within our online classroom where I can dialogue with students (and students with each other). Questions can be asked, work can be shared, and feed back can be requested. I am excited that I get to interact with students throughout the week.

This class is scheduled for Tuesdays, July 9-30, from 10:00 am -12:30 pm (Pacific time), with a cost of $295.

To register, head to Winslow Art Center and choose one (or both) of my classes. Take time to browse the art center’s website; they have a FAQ page that is very helpful.

A Behind the Scenes Look

What a thrill it was to hang my show at Guardino Gallery a couple of weeks ago. I always like behind the scenes photos, so I thought it would be fun to share the highlights of the hanging on May 25, 2022. My show partner, Nadine Gay, was there with her husband, and my husband/studio assistant/business manager showed up and did a bit of everything to help get the show hung. It took six of us four hours to get the whole show hung.

I did an earlier post about Howard’s hanging of my 25-piece grid made up of individual 8×8 inch pieces, and you can see that post by clicking here.

The show is up through June 28, 2022.

Color – The Language of Dreams

Last fall, I received the email that always thrills and humbles me: I had been selected by Donna Guardino to have a show in the Main Gallery at Guardino Gallery in June of 2022. I didn’t celebrate too long, but instead studied the schematics of the gallery, the wall spaces to be filled, pulled together a batch of boards, and got to work.

The getting to work initially meant prepping the boards for painting. I knew early on that I wanted to pair art quotes with vivid colors, so right from the beginning these elements were prominent.

Moving boards, applying plaster, creating texture, sanding the plaster, writing on the plaster, sealing the plaster, writing more on the sealed plaster.

After all the boards were prepped (with massive help from my studio assistant), they were ready for paint to be applied.

This part of the process required many layers of oil paint mixed with cold wax. The dominant theme was layers of paint with the writing of quotes in between the layers.

Started out working on these two boards as a diptych.

Blotting some of the oil from R&F Pigment Sticks.

A quote on an early layer of oil and cold wax.

Getting my exercise working on big boards.

Applying oil and cold wax to create texture and design.

After several months of work, the pieces began to take shape. Some boards got scraped, some were finished, but then I decided they weren’t finished so more layers were applied. Writing was always present, but it was in the last six weeks of working that I began applying the words more boldly on the surface of the painted surfaces, and these turned out to be my favorite pieces.

R&F Pigment Sticks are like writing with lipstick.

“A Frenzy of Confessions,” 20×20 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax by Dayna Collins.

And before I knew it, it was time to stop painting. The oil and cold wax needed time to dry, cure, and set before applying a final coat of cold wax. For the month of May, the paintings were in my studio, in the hallway, and in our bathroom just resting.

Applying a final layer of cold wax on the finished painting.

Today as I put together this post, all the paintings have been moved to the main floor of our house. They are being prepared to be wrapped and loaded into a van we had to rent to transport the 44 paintings (yes, 44!) to the gallery in the morning.

The show hangs on Wednesday, May 25, and opens on Thursday, May 26, with the opening reception from 6-9 pm; the show will be up through June 26. An added bonus is you can see (and shop) all the pieces by going to Guardino Gallery’s website.

On My Journey Home

We laugh and we laugh and there is nothing else like it in the world.

A beautiful opportunity presented itself last June and after giving it some deep thought, I accepted a commission to create a painting in honor of a loved one who had passed. My collector (and friend) knew she wanted the piece to include collage and paint, but was open to how I would incorporate the two. We met at my house a couple of times to look through photos, passports, music, and ephemera, which all represented an interesting and rich life. I got a better idea of what she was thinking and proposed that I include words throughout the process, along with an initial layer of collage. It was agreed that the words and collage would imbue the piece with the spirit of this person, but the next layers would be an abstract landscape to reflect the color and vibrancy of a life lost too soon.

After I had a chance to go through the stacks of materials, we met again to make a few more decisions, giving me clarity of which original documents I would use to energize the painting. I decided I would create two paintings alongside each other so my collector would have a choice between which piece resonated with her the most. I chose to work on cradled panels: 24×36 inches and 30×40 inches.

Over several months, the two boards were painted, writing added, a second layer of paint, bigger and bolder words added, and then a complete layer of collage, with just snippets of the underlying words peeking through.

The process of alternating layers of acrylic paint with words continued, and eventually I began to focus on the composition, moving toward an abstracted landscape. I was pleased, but not satisfied, so in a fit of knowing I wasn’t finished, I took both boards to the back yard and using an electric sander, sanded the surface of both paintings, revealing the various layers as I sanded. Snippets of words, paint, and even some of the earlier layers of collage were revealed.

All sanded and ready for oil and cold wax to be applied.

Collage, acrylic paint, and words sanded back to reveal earlier layers.

Collage, acrylic paint, and writing, sanded back to reveal earlier layers.

Layers, layers, layers. Sanded back reveal some of those layers.

It was around this time I decided I would switch mediums and move to applying layers of oil paint mixed with cold wax. The vibrancy of oil and cold wax and the rich luminosity of the materials seemed like the right choice. I took the smaller of the two boards with me to Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in early September, where I was teaching a four-day workshop in oil and cold wax. I taught during the day, and then when the students went home for the night, I went into the studio and worked on the 24×36 inch piece, building layers of oil and cold wax.

“Trying So Hard to Listen,” after converting to oil and cold wax while at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology.

Working on “Trying So Hard to Listen” while at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology on the Oregon Coast.

“Trying So Hard to Listen,” after converting to oil and cold wax.

When I got home, I continued to work on “Trying So Hard to Listen,” with more layers of oil and cold wax.

“Trying So Hard to Listen” in process after converting to oil and cold wax.

I completed the 24×36 inch piece on October 4, 2021, and titled it “Trying So Hard to Listen.”

“Trying So Hard to Listen,” 24×36 inches, mixed media (acrylic, collage, oil, and cold wax).

I had also started to add layers of oil and cold wax to the larger piece, “On My Journey Home.”

Early layers of oil and cold wax, “On My Journey Home.”

The larger piece, 30×40 inches, was completed on my birthday, October 14, and I titled it “On My Journey Home.”

My wonderful friend and collector decided she wanted both of the paintings and in mid December, the paintings were delivered and hung. It was such an honor to see them hanging, knowing that they each had multiple layers of images, words, and paint and reflected emotional energy, love, and memories of a life well lived.

“On My Journey Home,” in its place of honor above the fireplace.

“Trying So Hard to Listen,” in its bright, beautiful space.

A journey of discovering that I love people, I love myself, I love my secrets.

Artist in Residence At Home

I declared the past eight days an Artist in Residency, self proclaimed because my husband hopped on a jet for the east coast to visit his nieces and I had eight days to myself. I often hem and haw, do a little of this, a little of that, throw in a load of laundry, check out Instagram, read emails . . . . before heading to my studio. Last week I still did some of those things, but I made it a priority to get into my studio. It was a little easier last week not because Howard was gone, well, that was part of it, but because of the oppressive heat. My painting studio is upstairs in our 1926 house so the old furnace ducting doesn’t allow the air conditioned air to reach the second floor, making the upstairs pretty unbearable by noon.

So I made it my mission to get up there every morning and do something, anything. I had a productive week, getting a few things out of the way that I needed to do, but more than that, I painted. I painted just for the joy of painting and spreading paint.

On the first morning, I did a warm up using scraps of brown paper bags from my recent #100dayproject. It felt good to revisit being playful and loose while painting on unimportant little bits of paper.

Then I got to work. One of my projects was to simply gesso a stack of boards for a class I’m taking in July.

I spent a little time most days painting with acrylic on a repurposed canvas and recording my progress.

I prepped panels with plaster, which required multiple steps: acrylic, plaster, sanding, sealing . . . .

I wove these steps into my mornings, allowing things to dry overnight, ready to tackle the next day. One morning I did a reset in my studio, moving things around on my collection of rolling carts, causing a traffic jam at one point.

I was finally ready to pull out the oil and cold wax and start painting. Home again. . . . the smell of the wax, the feel of the materials as I mixed and spread the buttery concoction . . . .

Many layers of oil and cold wax were applied. It was a time of experimentation, to play, to try out different ideas. I finished a few, several are still in process. Some are on boards, some are on Arches oil paper.

I recommend an Artist in Residence . . . at home.

Willamette Valley Hotel + My Art = A Beautiful Art Gallery

Last month, I wrote about my art being in a boutique hotel, along the bank of the Willamette River, The Independence, and just a 15 minute drive from Salem. When I wrote that blog post, I had three pieces of art on display at the hotel. As of writing this post, I now have an additional ten pieces there, and I haven’t even seen them yet! We plan to pay another visit (and another overnight) later this summer after their restaurant reopens in July.

I am writing now about another hotel in the Trace Hotel family, where I also have art, The Dundee. This hotel is located in Dundee, Oregon, in the heart of Oregon’s famous Willamette Valley wine country, and about a 40 minute drive from Salem. My art was installed the end of 2019, and then 2020 arrived, bringing Covid with it, and everything shut down. As things reopened in 2021, we decided to visit The Dundee. We were invited to come stay at the hotel, so earlier this month we went to The Dundee for three nights. Oh my. The Dundee has a stylish vibe and touches of luxury. Photos tell it best.

When we walked into our suite, Howard disappeared down a long hallway……

Once we were settled in, we started exploring, looking for my nine pieces of art; it was a bit like a scavenger hunt. Three of the paintings were right outside the door of our room on the second floor of the first building.

This painting, “Singed by Fire and Light,” hung in Howard’s office for several years. He has missed it, and was thrilled to discover it was hanging right outside our room.

Jumping for joy in front of “An Unaccountable Exhilaration,” 44×66 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna Collins.

“Fleeting Amazement,” 24×36 inches, acrylic on canvas, by Dayna Collins.

We continued our search. Right around the corner from our room, was the conference room, or Boardroom, and inside were three of my acrylic pieces.

Howard ponders this grouping of three acrylic paintings in the Boardroom at The Dundee.

When we were in the hallway, Jim, the hotel’s maintenance person, found out I had painted several of the paintings in the hotel and asked if I had by chance painted the pieces in the Boardroom. When I replied that I had, he said, “Come with me. I’ve studied those paintings, and I have questions for you.” In we went.

Jim offers insight about what he sees in these three paintings at The Dundee Hotel in the Boardroom.

Jim points out the “animals” he sees in these paintings.

Jim’s question was if I had intentionally placed animals in my paintings. I told him I hadn’t, but he insisted he saw a bee, a bird, a cat, and a COW!

We set out again on our mission to find my paintings, leaving the first building, passing a great courtyard between the two buildings, and then entering the second building.

We spied the first painting on the landing between the first and second floors.

“Morning Clouds Giving Way to Sunshine,” is in the stairwell between the first and second floor at the Dundee Hotel.

Howard enjoys analyzing what he sees in a painting. This one, “Morning Clouds Giving Way to Sunshine,” 30×60 inches, plaster, oil and cold wax, by Dayna Collins, is in the private collection of The Dundee Hotel.

Detail of “Morning Clouds Giving Way to Sunshine,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna Collins.

“The Emporium of Small Delights,” 36×48 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax, is located at the end of a hallway on the second floor.

Visiting “A Stirring of Possibility,” 22×32 inches, framed acrylic on canvas.

We had a beautiful three nights in the heart of the Willamette Valley (surrounded by wineries if you are a lover of wine) and we are already looking forward to our next visit.

Bonus: Painting what would eventually become “Without Thought or Emotion,” in 2019, and is now hanging in The Boardroom at The Dundee.

Boutique Hotel + My Art = A Beautiful Collaboration

Reflection photo taken from our balcony, with the river in the background.

Back in the fall of 2019, I was invited to show my art in a new hotel in Independence, Oregon, a small town about 15 minutes from Salem and across the Willamette River. The hotel, The Independence, was along the river and wanted to feature local artists and makers. I painted three paintings with the hotel in mind and its location along the river.

Working on two of the pieces for The Independence Hotel.

Adding more layers to “Patterns Revealed Themselves.”

“It Smelled Like the End of Summer” drying on our upstairs bathtub.

The three paintings for the hotel, oil and cold wax over plaster, and 30×40 inches each, were delivered in November, 2019. A reception was planned for the end of March, 2020.

And then the pandemic hit and everything was cancelled.

Fast forward to May, 2021, and we were finally able to visit the hotel and see my art in place. The hotel invited us to stay, so last week we planned a two night staycation. It was lovely to only drive 15 minutes to reach our destination, and what a beautiful destination.