Art Workshops – Page 2 – Dayna J Collins

Trifecta of Classes. . . . and a bit of sightseeing, too

I recently returned from a ten-day road trip with my friend Tory Brokenshire. On the first leg of our trip, we were in Cleveland where Tory was teaching three classes at Small Studio. The classes were all found object assemblage classes with a big dose of sculpture. I’m good with the found object part, not so much with the sculpture, but I gave it my best effort.

Story Tellers

From a pile of junk and a flurry of arms and legs, I created Mr. Songbird.

Sail Away

Day two was titled Sail Away and involved sculpting an entire body AND making a little wire boat. Tory was a great and patient teacher and I managed to create a companion for Mr. Songbird, but her boat, well, it sunk.

Please meet Miss Pennington.

The good news is that Mr. Songbird and Miss Pennington hooked up at the end of the second day, although Mr. Songbird’s nose put out Miss Pennington’s right eye.

Santos

On our final day, we created a Santos. Fortunately, we only had to sculpt the head!

Then we got to dress our Santos, which was great fun.

The finished crew of Santos (mine is on the far right).

Post Script: After three days of classes, we spent a couple of days in Cleveland sightseeing, then we rented a car and drove to Chicago, where we spent a few more days.

During the ten days I was away, I spent an entire 30 minutes in my travel journal. A whole 30 minutes!

Jane Davies Extravaganza

Last week I had the privilege of taking three consecutive classes at Art and Soul from Jane Davies (she did a blog post about the classes, which you can see by clicking here). I thought it would be fun to break the classes down, sharing a bit from each day. It was a great three days of art-making and although I didn’t finish any of the pieces, I have a lot of good beginnings and I learned so much.

Day 1 – Layering With Transparencies

Day 2 – Working in Series

My friend Katy and I took the class together.

Day 3 – Balancing Opposites: the Ying and Yang of Composition

Artist Serena Barton was in the class and it's always a treat to spend time with her. — Artist Serena Barton was in the class and it’s always a treat to spend time with her.

My new friend Karen. She lives in Portland very close to Guardino Gallery!

Art in the Annex – “I’m Nuts For Art!”

I was invited to join two other artist friends, Deanna White and Cynthia Herron, to teach a children’s art class at the Salem Art Association. The class was the brainchild of Deanna, who writes:

Both my children still have fond memories of the many art classes they attended at the Bush Barn Annex so many years ago. I have been a Gallery Guide for 13 years and have seen the Gallery Guides support many art educational opportunities and so would like to revisit this tradition again.

Deanna put together a proposal, invited Cynthia and I to participate, and presented it to the Bush Barn Gallery Guides, who approved the proposal and funded the class. The class was limited to 15 students, grades 3-5, and it cost each student only $10 for an afternoon of art.

The day was divided into three segments:

Station 1: Book of Your Own with Deanna White

Station 2: Coloring Outside the Lines with Cynthia Herron

Station 3: Fantastical Creatures with Dayna Collins

For my station, we played with bendable muslin dolls and I set up a big table with fibers, jewels, feathers, boas, leather strips, buttons, ribbons, googly eyes, and lots of paint. Here’s my doll collection, which I brought for inspiration: