Creativity – Page 7 – Dayna J Collins

Abstracted Play in Oil and Cold Wax: June 2019

I’m a tad tardy in sharing about my June class at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, but it has been fun looking through all of the photos a month later. This class was special because Sitka had a last minute workshop cancellation and I was asked to teach an additional session of my Abstracted Play in Oil and Cold Wax (my August class filled quickly and had a long waiting list).

Sitka is located on the Oregon Coast at Cascade Head (between Lincoln City and Neskowin). I got to stay in Gray House, a cabin located just a short walk up from Boyden Studio, where my class was held.

I love the process of preparing to teach – walking the grounds, the lesson planning, and getting the studio set up.

Once class got started, it was a whirlwind of activity. I started each morning with a warm up exercise, and then moved into teaching techniques. Students were given lots of time to practice and play – and they all jumped in with a fearless enthusiasm.

This routine was repeated for four days and it was a blur of heightened energy, creativity, and beautiful results.

On the fourth day, we worked in the morning, and then cleaned up in preparation for our sharing and wrap up.

During our class, I did warm ups along with students and also illustrated how working in a visual journal can be great inspiration for creating paintings.

I’m already excited for my next class, August 22-25.

Daily Art Practice: Visual Painting Journal – Newest Pages

I started doing a daily painting in my visual journal on January 1st and believe it or not, I’ve stuck with it. I got a little behind over the past couple of weeks, but I’ve been slowly doubling down on my daily paintings and I’m almost caught up. I did my first post about this project on January 25 and then an update on March 27. In both of my previous posts, I shared a selection of daily paintings from my journals (I’m on journal number 3). I figured it was time I did another update and share more paintings. Going through the pages of my journals, I am reminded why I’m incorporating this practice into my daily schedule: 1) It gets me into the studio, and 2) I’m experimenting with composition, colors, and ideas. All very good things.

100th Painting!
April 10, 2019
Dayna J. Collins

Daily Art Practice: Visual Painting Journal

I decided to shake things up a bit when I hung my 2019 calendar, thinking I would paint a quick abstract each day in my visual journal. Who knows how long I will maintain this practice, but so far, so good, and today is January 25th.

I’ve learned a couple of things along the way. First, it is fun to paint quickly, loose, and free, for no reason other than the joy of painting. And second, as a result of painting quick, loose, and free, I have several ideas for bigger paintings!

My acrylic painting station in my studio. Photo taken the morning of January 25.

No need to share every daily painting, but here’s a random selection.

My journal is 9×9 inches, mixed media paper, and spiral bound so it lays flat when it is open. I’ve been using Golden acrylics, a black Stabilo pencil, sharp pointy objects for scritching and scratching, Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 Stabilo pencils, a paintbrush, occasional stamps and stencils, a No.2 pencil, and a palette knife.

Palette paper for the week ending January 25.

Scrounged Beauty

Years of Collecting

After years of being junking partners, my friend Stephanie Brockway and I are doing a show together at RiverSea Gallery in Astoria. Both of us have shown our work at RiverSea for years, and Stephanie had a solo show there a couple of years ago. I show paintings, she shows a combination of paintings and outsider folk art. Scrounged Beauty is found object art, highlighting the best of our collections of found objects, and as some would say, junk.

Months of Auditioning

I spent months pulling things out of drawers, bins, bowls, and trays, choosing which pieces to try out on various pieces of reclaimed wood and prepared boards.

Weeks of Connecting, Titling, Signing, and Photographing

A Day of Hanging

Okay, Colin actually did the hanging, while Steph and I gallivanted around Astoria.

A Sampling of My Pieces (out of 42 I have in the show!)

“Delightful Daydreams,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Giddyup, Little One Trick Pony,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Obscured Thoughts,” by Dayna J. Collins

“A Whisper of Conspiracy,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Drawn Into Memory,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Daily Interactions,” by Dayna J. Collins

“The Tiniest Things Mean Something,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Most Expedient Route,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Painstaking Exactitude,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Traveling Side Show,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Seeing Through Shadows,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Little Time to Talk,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Untroubled By Disturbing Dreams,” by Dayna J. Collins

“Staring Into the Distance,” by Dayna J. Collins

THE SHOW

Press Play Salem

Every once in a delightful while you come across an individual who is so apologetically bold and creatively daring in how they live and work and play that you cannot help but feel inspired by their vivacious presence and vibrant energy. Jessica Murdoch

I was invited by Carlee Wright, publisher and editor, and Jessica Murdoch, co-editor and writer, to be featured in the second issue of Press Play Salem, an arts + entertainment + culture magazine focusing on the people, places, and things to do in Oregon’s beautiful capital city, Salem. How could I refuse, it was such an honor.

Carlee came to our July Art After Dark Open Studios at The Studios at Mission Mill, where I have my Special Projects Studio, and shot some photos of me for the article. Then Jessica sent me a series of questions to answer – a LOT of questions – and I wrote and wrote and wrote, wondering how she would ever decipher everything and boil it down into an article. But she did. Amazingly well, I might add.

I ran downtown on July 31 and picked up a stack of copies. I spread them out the next day and shot this photo. But I didn’t read the article. I really didn’t. I was too nervous. Two days later, I finally decided I would read what Jessica had written. I read it out loud to Howard, choking up a bit as I read. How could this article be about me? But there it was, a beautifully written expose of how I live my life and the art I make.

The next day, we met our son and two granddaughters for lunch at Taproot, where there was a huge stack of Press Play Salem. I grabbed a couple to show Scott, just as Avery grabbed crayons and colored over my face. Sounds about right.

Jessica’s final paragraph:

And that’s Dayna. The woman is — in a word–colorful. She is a kaleidoscope of personality and spontaneity. Her art and her method reflect the most intimate version of her spirited self, and she is fearless when it comes to sharing her artistic expression with the world, making no apology for the outcome: ‘Taking an idea and expanding upon it, with twists and turns along the way, and ending up with something entirely unexpected, is the thrill of the process.’

Show and Tell: Salem Art Group in Conversation – Part II

Salem Art Group: Bonnie, Susan, Katy, Kay, Nancy, Kathy, and Dayna (Tory not in photo).

On Wednesday, May 16, the Salem Art Group held an informal reception at the Art Annex, inviting guests to stop by for a visit from 10 am – 2 pm and join in a conversation. Here’s what the promotional materials said about our group and the goal of our show:

Each month a group of eight Salem artists meets to talk about their work and exchange ideas. Over the years the “personnel” has changed but the core purpose has remained the same: support of creative work in a changing world. The group supplies each other with honest critiques, new ideas, reading and visuals in support of ideas, information about media and techniques, and moral support. They attend each other’s openings, they collect each other’s work, and they occasionally make work together. This exhibit will allow the artists to show the work they do, and for the public to see their serious work, as well as the fun that is part of Salem Art Group. Incidentally all eight artists are women: Tory Brokenshire, Dayna Collins, Nancy Eng, Bonnie Hull, Susan Napack, Kathy Shen, Katy Vigeland, and Kay Worthington.

The Annex was a hub of activity for the entire four hours.

During the reception we saved a wall for an interactive, spontaneous project.

We each contributed five art prompts, which were put into a bowl. We took turns drawing a prompt, and doing what we were instructed to do. Prompts included: Draw a shadow; create a diagonal trail; hang it up; draw a shape within a shape, within a shape, within a shape; color an emotion, and home.

Show and Tell: Salem Art Group in Conversation runs through May 31 at the Salem Art Association Art Annex.

I’m Teaching! Four Days of Oil and Cold Wax

If you’ve ever been interested in working in oil and cold wax, I have a great opportunity to immerse yourself for four consecutive days of art making in a beautiful new space. I will be teaching my Abstracted Play class at the Salem Art Association’s newly revamped and remodeled Art Annex on October 6-9, from 9:30-4:30. There will be plenty of time to dive in, learn new techniques, experiment, be inspired, inspire each other, work hard, and, of course, play. But first, this is the bright, airy, new space, located in the heart of Bush Park, where we will be meeting. And my class is the very first to be offered!

This class is for everyone. If you have previously worked with oil and cold wax, this class will help take you to the next level, but it also works well for beginners with no experience at all. Oil paint mixed with cold wax is a versatile medium that creates rich luminosity and interesting surfaces. We’ll experiment with laying down paint, adding texture, scraping paint away, and then doing it all over again. And maybe yet again.

During the four days, we will work on multiple pieces, working intuitively and abstractly, exploring texture, layers, composition, design elements, and use of color through oil paint and pigment sticks. We will explore making marks using graphite pencils, twigs and awls, solvents to remove paint and leave marks, and oil pigment sticks. We will be working on wood substrates as well as Arches oil paper.

Oil paint mixed with cold wax allows the layers to dry quickly (and without much odor), and clean up is done with mineral or baby oil, so our use of solvents is very limited (or even unnecessary).

The cost for the four full days of class is $350 with a $20 supply fee. I provide some materials and share all of my paints and pigment sticks. To register, just go to the Salem Art Association website using this link.

I Created a Zine! Wait, What’s a Zine?

Many people ask what a zine is, so here is a simple explanation: A zine, pronounced, zeen (long e’s) is an abbreviated form of a magazine, created using original text, images,and drawings. It is self-published using a photo copier and usually printed in small batches.

My Salem Art Group decided it would be fun if we each created a zine (there are six of us) and did a swap. We chose a quarter page size format and other than that, we could make our zine on any topic of our choosing.

I started brainstorming ideas for my zine. I considered doing a zine on colors, favorite words, my obsessions, inspiring quotes, but ended up choosing creativity as my theme; where and when I started my creative journey and how I keep it going.

It started to take shape in my head and I jotted ideas in my journal. I knew I wanted the pages to have the look of old school typewritten pages (and I recently won a typewriter in a raffle – I bought a LOT of tickets!). I also knew early on I wanted to use a few photos from when I was a child.

It struck me that an original piece of art would be fun to add to a page, so I painted a little abstract painting on a piece of watercolor paper.

Beyond those things, I just started making lists and recording ideas — verything from my studio playlist to what I drink during the day.

The cover was created using copies of my original abstract paintings. I made color photocopies, then cut out feathers from the copies, creating a sunburst of art. (That’s me as a child, using my original concept of incorporating childhood photos).

Once I finished the layout, which takes a great deal of concentration so all the pages line up properly, I made my copies, cut the pages in half, folded and collated (my zine is 20 pages, counting the front and back covers). While watching Season 7 of Nurse Jackie, I did a simple stitched binding using red waxed linen thread.

Another peek inside:

I decided to print 14 copies, five for my art group, one for me. My husband asked for one, so did my daughters. I’m guessing my mom and sister will want one, and I’ve set aside a couple for friends who have given me their zines in the past. Each copy is numbered, making them feel exclusive and special.

I’ve wanted to create a zine for a long time and it was as much fun as I expected. I already have plans for future zines, but thank heavens for my art group had a deadline to get this one created and published.

Post Script

The Salem Art Group met this week to exchange our zines. It was like Christmas as each of us distributed our zines and shared about our inspiration and process. My zine was text heavy, Tory’s was filled with bird idioms through text, drawings, and collage, Nancy shared her drawings of the human form, Katy produced a zine using her landscape sketches, Kathy illustrated a zine she titled “Courtesans, Witches, Camp Scouts, & Nervous Nell,” and Bonnie shared sketches of what she found when she was snowed in and cleaned out some drawers (and each of us received a special teeny tiny item from her cleaning).