Assemblage – Page 3 – Dayna J Collins

Willamette Valley Open Studio Tour Returns

After a year hiatus, the Willamette Valley Open Studio Tour has returned. This is a self-guided public tour of local artist studios in Marion and Polk Counties. The tour is Saturday and Sunday, September 13-14, from 10:00 am-4:00 pm. More information is available about the tour on the website. There are 19 artist studios on the tour and the cost is only $5 for both days and all the studios. Tickets can be purchased at the Art Department, Bush Barn, and from all tour artists.

I participated in this event in both 2011 and 2012, both times when I was in my previous studio. For this event, you’ll have the opportunity to see my upstairs painting studio, my basement assemblage studio, and you’ll have the opportunity to buy art. I’ll have old as well as new oil and cold wax paintings, Funky Junkyard Birds, greetings cards, prints, reproductions of Fearless Faces, and dozens of new Curious Elements.

Limited edition giclee prints of this original oil and cold wax painting, "Spotted With Crimson," will be available for the first time. — Limited edition giclee prints of this original oil and cold wax painting, “Spotted With Crimson,” will be available for the first time.

In addition to all this art goodness, there will be one final opportunity to support my Scattered By the Wind Prayer Flag Project and purchase prayer flags at half price: only $5 each, with proceeds from the sale of the flags going to art programming at Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility.

During the studio tour, I’m also having a studio SALE. Everything will be reduced in some way, with some things being marked down as much as 50%.

16x20 canvas reproductions of Fearless Faces, regularly $80, will be on sale for half price. Only $40 each. — 16×20 canvas reproductions of Fearless Faces, regularly $80, will be on sale for half price. Only $40 each.

Oil and cold wax block sets were $45, will be on sale for half price at $22.

I hope you’ll stop by my artful home on Saturday and Sunday and experience three floors of art. My sister will be on hand to greet you, serve you a snack and cold drink, and assist you with purchases. My husband will be in the basement to show you my downstairs found object and assemblage studio (be sure and have him open cabinets and drawers for you), and I’ll be upstairs to share my oil and cold wax painting process.

Questions? Contact me via e-mail: dayna@daynajcollins.com/curele.

PS I’m hoping to have a “Square” in place to take debit and credit cards, but cash is always preferred and appreciated.

Studio Revamp

I have two studios. The upstairs one is my painting studio, the basement one is my assemblage studio (aka junk shop). We moved into our new house (it’s an old house, 1926 era, but new to us) about 16 months ago, which allowed me to close down my one-bedroom house studio and bring everything home. Even with two studios in our new house, it wasn’t easy to consolidate everything from an entire house and put it into two spaces.

In December of 2012 I packed, sorted, boxed, donated, and sold all sorts of studio items. The former studio was filled to the brim – every room was mine to fill as I pleased: kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, and a tacked on shed (and the back yard, too). It was a herculean task and I couldn’t have done it without the help of friends.

Then what was boxed, needed to be put away.

It was overwhelming, but two friends came to the rescue. Sam helped moved all the boxes and Tory helped put it away.

I’m a pretty organized person, so I put most of the assemblage bits in the basement, but I also put a lot of it upstairs in my painting studio. Over the past year I’ve worked on my Curious Elements and Funky Junkyard Birds in the basement, but I was constantly running upstairs to my painting studio to comb through the bits I had put up there. And then when I was painting in the upstairs studio, I was beginning to feel claustrophobic with all the junk surrounding me.Two weeks ago I realized it was time to reorganize and move the last of the little bits to the basement and clear out some of the clutter (but not the shelves that Tory lovingly filled with my fun treasures).

After a full day of moving stuff out of my painting studio, this is how it looked:

But, I had made a huge mess in the basement that had to wait until this week to remedy.

It took two days to get the basement space reorganized and tidied up. But it was worth it.

I love studio shots, so here are a few close-ups from the basement.

Now I need to go get to work.

Tuna Can Reuse Challenge

I created a special Curious Element in response to a challenge put out by Salem’s DIY Creative Reuse Studio. Here’s the challenge:

Each month DIY Studio hosts a Reuse Challenge to encourage creatives to rethink and reimagine. February’s challenge must include a tuna can. Post your photos of your recreation by midnight Feb, 22 on our timeline. The participant who earned the most likes by midnight, Friday the 28th will win a bulk bag of reuse supplies at DIY! Game on!

Turns out, my little tuna can creation received the most likes!

The Heart of the Matter

The Heart of the Matter: A group show about the heart is an annual Guardino Gallery show. I’ve participated the past several years and I was invited to submit art again this year. I created ten Curious Elements with a heart theme. My Curious Elements are found object pieces of art created in a multi-step process. In a nutshell, I cut up pieces of board, apply paint, plaster, sand, stain, and wax. To add depth and interest, I cut up yard sticks, apply vintage paper and a layer of stain. Then I rummage through my bins and boxes of bits, auditioning pieces of metal and sometimes scraps of fabric. When I’m satisfied with the layout and the underlying story, I begin the process of attaching. And that’s how a Curious Element is born – I once counted about 22 steps in the process from beginning to end!

Enough yammering. Here are the ten Curious Elements I created for the show.

"Small Bits of Perfection" — “Small Bits of Perfection”

"Unorthodox Methods" — “Unorthodox Methods”

"Personal Correspondence" — “Personal Correspondence”

"Familiarity With Chaos" — “Familiarity With Chaos”

"Interlude of Silence" — “Interlude of Silence”

"A Matter of Moments" — “A Matter of Moments”

The show opens at Guardino Gallery on January 30 and runs through February 23. The opening reception is Thursday, January 30, 6-9 pm.

A New Batch of Funky Junkyard Birds

I just completed 17 (seventeen!) Funky Junkyard Birds! I started the new flock on Monday by auditioning body parts, wings, and legs, then began the arduous task of attaching the different and varied elements. Lots of raw materials go into making the birds, here’s a peek at some of the bits.

It felt so satisfying to finish up the gang this afternoon. Here’s the proud mama of her new flock:

My Funky Junkyard Birds will be flying off to Guardino Gallery in Portland, Lunaria Gallery in Silverton, and I’ll have a few available for sale from my studio. Here’s a sampling of my new birds.

Day of the Dead – Guardino Gallery Style

I blogged recently about the seven pieces of art I created for Guardino Gallery’s 7th annual Day of the Dead Show. The art got hung and Thursday night was Last Thursday on Alberta, a monthly street party on a very cool street in NE Portland. It is also the night that Guardino Gallery hosts their art opening for the featured artists. This year I decided it would be fun to join the party in a different way: by dressing up in a Day of the Dead Costume. Warning: the only art you’ll see in this post is face make up, costumes, and a little incidental wall art.

The Make Up

Photo Op

Cast of Characters

The Party

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