Contemporary Art – Page 4 – Dayna J Collins

Surprise! Circles, Stripes, and Color

I don’t ever crave extraordinary moments anymore. Just small, gentle hums of beauty streaming from below, above, and beyond simply from paying attention. Sound. Light. Shadow. Art. Warmth. The night. The morning. Dreams that are not faraway but exist right here — already in my days, hands, and heart.

Victoria Erickson

One of the projects I’ve started working on is actually a resumption of something I started a year ago, a series of long, slender, wood cradled panels (4×48 inches). All five boards had been painted black with some bands of color already added, but today I pulled them out of the basement, hung them on my rolling wall, and while painting a large canvas on the opposite wall (another long abandoned project resurrected last week), I used the leftover paint from that painting on the tall, slender panels. Layer by layer, band by band. I know that the swaths of color I used to create my Emotional Alignments series influenced this current project. Bands and swaths again, but a bit wonkier and whimsical. At least for today. I’ll be working on these right on into the new year.

Some close-up peeks from different sections of the five panels:

Now What?

Painting should call out to the viewer . . . and the surprised viewer should go to it, as if entering a conversation.

Roger de Piles, 1676

The dust has hardly settled and I’m already looking ahead to 2021, although I’ve got a jump start on a couple of projects while it is still 2020. But first, my show at RiverSea, Emotional Alignments, gets hung next week and the opening reception will be held on Saturday, January 9, from 12-8 pm during the Astoria Art Walk. I’ll be at the gallery that evening from 5-8 pm if you happen to be out and about.

Nine of 20 pieces in the Emotional Alignments show, opening January 9, 2021, at RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, Oregon

Most people would probably wait until after a show has opened before starting work on another show, but I’m not most people. So forward I go, taking full advantage of making art during a pandemic. Early preparations have begun for a May, 2021 show at Salem on the Edge. Very preliminary preparations, lining up which boards I want to use, getting them painted, plaster applied, sanding them outside (weather permitting), and then getting them sealed and ready for applying oil and cold wax. As of this writing, I have no idea what my theme or composition will be – that will come in the new year.

In my next post, I’ll share about another project I’m currently working on . . . . .

When a Deadline Looms

If you read my last post, I shared about my upcoming show at RiverSea Gallery in Astoria and how my initial idea was the theme of waterlines, but somewhere along the way I realized it was no longer a theme I wanted to explore. Instead, I started thinking in bands and swaths of color, a design element I have been smitten with for years. My thoughts went to how I have always been attracted to color field art, so as I painted and worked on my boards, the idea of working in fields of color filled my consciousness. The words Emotional Alignments became the title of my show, and propelled me forward. I knew where I was going and I was excited to get into my studio every day; I had an enthusiasm I hadn’t had in a long time.

After getting all of my boards prepped, I kicked into full time painting, spending several hours a day in my studio adding layers of oil and cold wax. In my last post, I shared the process of how I prepare my boards with acrylic paint, plaster, and more acrylic paint, and now I’m showing and sharing the process of adding layers of oil paint mixed with cold wax.

The first order of business is to mix up cold wax with Galkyd (which helps speed the drying time), then mix oil paints with the wax mixture, making it the consistency of whipped butter (or shortening if you are old enough to remember that cooking staple).

I use the early layers to just get color down so I have something to respond to. I’ve been working on 20 pieces simultaneously, so drying space is at a premium, necessitating spreading out into our bathroom and the upstairs hallway.

Once I have one or two initial layers of oil and cold wax, often alternating between warm and cool colors so when I’m scratching through the wet paint, the earlier layer is revealed, it is time to begin thinking about a composition. I knew I would be focusing on bands of color, so I just started painting swaths, giving some thought to color, but not too much advance planning at this stage.

Eventually, I had another layer on the boards and it was time to begin making more informed choices to add variety within the swaths: warm against cool, texture against smooth, bright against dull, light against dark, busy against calm. I had the idea of using paint chips (from the hardware store) to play with color combinations.

I also gave a great deal of attention to the intersections between the bands of color, the interstices. I have long been fascinated with intersections: drawing into the layers to reveal earlier layers, what colors show through, adding lines of color with the edge of a squeegee, how to create bold interest, how to create quiet interest that invites a viewer to step closer to see the details.

And so it goes. Back and forth, adding, subtracting, standing back, scraping, excavating, laying down more paint. Mental and physical gymnastics.

Between painting sessions, is the inbetween, the drying time. I set up a fan and a heater to blow warm, dry air around my studio, a time for the paintings to rest, a time for me to rest. It all seems to help.

Paintings are being completed and I’m excited about them. They reflect how I have moved through the pandemic, politics, wildfires, and personal traumas this past year. Titling the pieces has been as therapeutic as painting them. I think I might just be okay.

In my next post, I’ll share the completed pieces. The show, Emotional Alignments, opens Saturday, January 9, 2021, at RiverSea Gallery as part of the Astoria monthly Art Walk.

The Arduous Task of Preparing for a Show

For the past couple of months I have put my nose to the grindstone. Being in the middle of a pandemic, life outside my house has been meager, so in many ways this has been the ideal time to put myself into a self-imposed studio timeout. I had the opportunity for a show at RiverSea Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in Astoria on the Oregon Coast. I have had art there for several years, I’ve been in group shows, and two years ago I had a show with my friend Stephanie Brockway. I had been thinking about asking for a solo show, but had never approached the gallery owner, Jeannine. Until October. I met with Jeannine and because of the pandemic, she was juggling the rescheduling of shows from 2020 into 2021; then she said that an artist had just cancelled for January 2021 and I could have that slot. In the big gallery. Gulp. Yes, please. Let the madness begin.

I work in layers. Many layers. It goes ~~something~~ like this. Gathering boards and painting them with a layer of acrylic or house paint. Once dry, I slather on a layer of plaster, which needs to dry overnight. The plastered boards are then schlepped outside to be lightly sanded, brought back into the studio, and sealed with a layer of acrylic stain. I like to baptize my boards with words, so I usually scribble a quote or something about how I’m feeling. Then I’m ready to begin actually painting. Because words don’t quite capture the physicality of this process, here is my photo essay depicting the first round of layers.

Now the boards are ready for painting.

When I originally pitched my show to Jeannine, my idea was for a show about waterlines, something I have been passionate about exploring for years. But as I began applying the initial layers of oil and cold wax, I realized the show was no longer about waterlines. When I needed to send an image to Jeannine for her November newsletter, I sent her this message:

I have been consistently working since we met in October, moving forward with the theme of Waterlines. I prepped 15 boards (20×20 inches up to 40×40 inches) with acrylic, plaster, acrylic, and then one to two layers of oil paint mixed with cold wax. As I began the process of reconciling the under layers with a finished composition, it became apparent that my heart wasn’t in a strict interpretation of waterlines. My original vision for the show was bold swaths of color representing waterlines, but as I began applying paint in bright bands of color, I realized what I was experiencing was more than waterlines; it was an emotional response to 2020: the pandemic, politics, and wildfires (as well as a series of personal family hardships). Waterlines always find their way into my pieces as inspiration, but this show isn’t about waterlines, but my emotional response to 2020. So things have changed a bit. I have titled the show: EMOTIONAL ALIGNMENTS. Once I started making this shift last week, my painting took off. I start my days enthusiastic and excited to get into the studio.

In my next post, I’ll share about the evolution of my paintings (now at 20 works in various stages of completion) using oil paint mixed with cold wax medium . . . . and the many hours I spend in my studio.

In the Zone

It has been a long time since I painted with oil and cold wax. I’ve kept up with my daily acrylic painting in my visual journal and I have been steadfast in working on my Salvage Collages, but my oil paints and cold wax medium sat quietly on the shelves, waiting for my return. Deadlines are great motivators.

Guardino Gallery is hosting their 19th annual Little Things show and work is due this month. Earlier, I completed seven small abstract paintings, but I had hoped to have at least 12 for the show. Everything in the Little Things show needs to be 7×7 inches or smaller, so my pieces are all 5×5 inches, a fun size to paint and a size that keeps the price affordable.

Sunday turned out to be a quiet day and I had the house to myself, so I headed to my painting studio, quickly painted in my daily visual journal, then pulled out my gallon of cold wax and began choosing oil paint colors I wanted to work with. I lined up nine 5×5 boards; six of them had the beginnings of paintings and three I had deemed completed. All nine got a makeover. It felt great to work primarily in a limited palette of warm colors: pinks, magentas, reds, oranges . . . . with dabs, lines, and swaths of other colors to add contrast and variety.

“The Strange Dance of Movement Over Time,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

“A Cloud of Tenderness,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

“Secret Yearnings,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

“The Memory of That Night,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

“A Field of Feverish Energy,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

“A Hot and Windless Summer Day,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

“Words Have No Sound,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

“Too Many Surprises,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

“Hushed By the Wind,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

These were three of the initial seven that made the cut:

“Whispered Words,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

“State of Disorientation,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

“The Pink Light of Dawn,” oil and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins

Little Things 19 opens Friday, November 29, 6-9 pm, at Guardino Gallery in Portland on NE 30th and Alberta.

Daily Art Practice: Visual Painting Journal – Mid Summer Paintings

200th Painting!
July 19, 2019
Dayna J. Collins

Daily painting is still happening in my studio (and sometimes when I’m on the road and not at home). One time I forgot to take my painting journal with me, so I painted on little pieces of watercolor paper I had available and then taped the pieces into my journal, a couple of make do entries (you’ll see them below). Here are some selected pages since my last post on May 28.

Nature’s Rhythm: Featuring Barbara Bassett & Dayna Collins

Last November, I was invited by Barbara Bassett to do a show with her at her gallery, Barbara Basset Art Gallery, located at Pudding River Wine Cellars. I’ve long admired Barbara’s work and love the setting of her gallery, so I said yes.

We got together several months ago to plan for our show and come up with a title; we both liked Nature’s Rhythm, as it gave us freedom to create in our own styles.

I wrote a quick blurb about my pieces:

Color is an overriding theme in Dayna’s work. Whether she is painting abstract landscapes or creating more nonrepresentational work, color always finds its way into her paintings, mimicking or exaggerating nature’s wild palette.

We hung our show last week with the help of Sean, the owner and winemaker at Pudding River Wine Cellars.

Barbara worked big, I did a series of 12×12 inch pieces.

We got the show hung quickly, and then we did a timed selfie.

Some of the pieces I will have in the show:

“The Thread of a Path,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, 12×12 inches.

“Spellbound By Thoughts,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, 12×12 inches.

“Grateful For the Silence of the River,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, 12×12 inches.

“A River of Gratitude,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, 12×12 inches.

“A Silver Curtain of Rain,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, 12×12 inches.

“The Hum of Mosquitoes,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, 12×12 inches.

“A Pulsing Wave of Gratitude,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, 12×12 inches.

“The Light Glimmers On,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, 12×12 inches.

The opening reception is Wednesday, May 22, 4:00 – 6:00 pm. The Pudding River Wine Cellars and Barbara Bassett Art Gallery are just a ten-minute drive from from Silverton and 15-minutes from Salem, through the beautiful countryside. The show will be up for several months, so if you can’t make the opening, take a short drive and visit this beautiful winery and gallery.