The Little Things show at Guardino Galleryin Portland is my favorite group show of the year. I don’t know how many years I have participated, but this year will be the gallery’s 18th year. For the current show, there are over 58 participating artists and the only requirement is that all pieces are 7×7 inches and smaller. I created 12 abstract paintings on cradled panels, each is 6×6 inches.
Here are my pieces:
“The Waters of the Night,” oil and cold wax by Dayna Collins.“The Sudden Dip into Evening,” acrylic and cold was by Dayna Collins.“The Heat of the Long Afternoon,” Oil and cold wax by Dayna Collins.“The Heart is Restless,” oil and cold wax by Dayna Collins.“The Flash of Summer Lightning,” oil and cold wax by Dayna Collins.“The Darkness of the Water,” acrylic and cold was by Dayna Collins.“Outside the Window,” oil and cold wax by Dayna Collins.“Dropped Through the Gate of Memory,” acrylic and cold wax by Dayna Collins.“Dreaming of Drums and Magic,” oil and cold wax by Dayna Collins.“Another Knot in the String of Time,” plaster, acrylic, and cold wax by Dayna Collins.“All the Moments of the Past,” plaster, acrylic, and cold wax by Dayna Collins.“A Deep Pool of Silence,” oil and cold wax by Dayna Collins.
The show runs through December 30 and all pieces are take and go. If you’re looking for original art and creative gifts, this would be a perfect place to shop.
I returned Sunday night from teaching my four-day Abstracted Landscapes in Oil and Cold Wax atSitka Center for Art and Ecology, on the Oregon Coast. It was a mountain top experience. I arrived on Wednesday afternoon to get settled into my cabin and to get the studio set up for class the following day.
Class started on Thursday morning and for four days we hardly came up for air. The days were a blur of demonstrations, techniques, inspirational readings, laying down paint, scraping it off, laying down more layers, breaking for lunch, more demos and more paint. There was a constant chatter in the room, students getting feedback from each other and from me.
On Friday afternoon, I presented my Art Talk.
On the third day, we talked about composition, color, and design elements, and everyone started to refine their pieces and move them toward resolution. Students were introduced to R and F Pigment Sticks, and enjoyed vying for their favorite colors.
Some glimpses of moments throughout the days:
Some of my demos during the week:
On Sunday afternoon, we did a casual Show and Tell Walkabout, where everyone talked about the process and shared a couple of their favorite pieces. Here are the Walkabout photos:
The following is a stream of photos illustrating some the beautiful work created by these energetic, fun, and talented artists. Feast your eyes on all this color:
We took a group photo on Sunday morning, no easy task, but we pulled it off after a few tries!
The Salem Art Association invited established and emerging artists (who live or work within 25 miles of Salem) to submit artwork for Radius 25: Through My Eyes, a juried group exhibition at the Bush Barn Art Center in Salem.
There were 230 entries for this group exhibition, with 50 works of art selected by juror Jennifer H. Pepin, an artist and owner of J. Pepin Art Gallery in Portland, Oregon. My entry, In the Fading Light of Evening, is plaster, oil, and cold wax, 18x24x2 inches, and was one of the 50 pieces selected for the show.
“In the Fading Light of Evening,” by Dayna J. Collins.
The show runs through August 25 at the Salem Art Association’s Bush Art Barn.
I wrote a blog post on May 8about how I was asked by Pat Wheeler if I would take over teaching her Restorative Painting: The Architecture of Memory class at both the Oregon College of Art and Craft and Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, as she was unable to make her annual trip to Oregon. The OCAC class wasn’t a go, but the Sitka class was and it took place last week. What a week.
I arrived late on Monday, and got settled into McKee House, my cabin in the woods.
I spent Monday evening preparing the classroom, one of my favorite things to do. After getting it ready, I turned off the overhead lights and turned on the party lights. A magical space.
Tuesday morning, my students arrived ready to work. I was loosely following Pat’s syllabus, including the addition of her idea for the class to create small works of art on heavy watercolor paper. These pieces could be used as a warm up, as inspiration for bigger pieces, or just for the pleasure of creating small pieces of art. I decided I would start off with a timed warm up, where I quickly told students what to do on three squares of paper spread out across their table: Draw a line, add a swath of paint, make a mark using a color, using a sharp object, draw into the wet paint, make a mark with your eyes closed, ending with the instruction to do whatever they wanted for five minutes. It was a great ice breaker and got everyone ready to jump in with their big boards.
Samples from Pat’s “Art Box,” which she sent to me in advance of our class.
Pat mentioned that she had a couple of boxes in storage at Sitka, which the Studio Tech had pulled out. It was pretty exciting to see what she had left in anticipation of this year’s class. If only Pat had jumped out and surprised us!
Getting down to business, the first step was painting our boards, which was a great way to get our bodies moving. I bought Pat’s signature paint: Benjamin Moore’s Tomato Red and Carbon Copy, along with a periwinkle blue of my choosing. After all of the boards were painted, outside they went to dry.
It was then time to break open our buckets of mud, technically known as joint compound, but the fancy term for using on show cards, limestone clay.
And then the boards went back outside to dry. Fortunately, the weather cooperated for three of our four days.
On Wednesday morning, we began doing one of the messier steps: sanding.
A signature of Pat’s process is incorporating photo transfers onto plastered and sanded boards. I’ve never been very proficient with this technique and although I practiced at my home studio prior to class, I was less than successful. Todd and Kell to the rescue. Both have worked with transfers with great success and I asked if they would be willing to demonstrate this technique.
After their successful transfer demos, everyone jumped in.
Wednesday afternoon, and it was time to begin sharing painting techniques. How to do washes and stains with paint, add and subtract, push and pull, a little of this, a lot of that, writing, stenciling, scritching and scratching . . . .
Sometimes more plaster was needed either as an eraser, or to add interest.
On Friday morning, my final demo was adding a layer of cold wax to seal the layers. Here’s Kira adding cold wax to her beautiful painting.
I worked on a demo piece during the week, and on Friday morning I sealed it with cold wax as well. Here are a few of my favorite areas:
During the week, the studio was a hive of activity. I opened the doors an hour early every day, and kept the studio open into the evening so anyone who wanted extra studio time, could take advantage (and almost everyone did).
On our final afternoon, we created time for show and tell, sharing what we enjoyed about the process, as well as what was challenging.
I drove home grateful for a class willing to accept a substitute teacher, who gave their all and worked hard, and left with a beautiful series of art. Because their work was so beautiful, here are photos of the pieces they chose to share with the class.
My mom died suddenly on March 13 after a brief illness. She passed on her own terms, peacefully and after saying goodbye to family and friends. I felt lost and sad. I found myself in my studio a few days after her passing, mixing oil paint with cold wax, and beginning to find my way back to myself.
About a week ago, a friend contacted me and said she was unable to attend a workshop in Portland and wanted to gift me her place in the class as she felt it would be a healing place for me to be. I met Kathleen two years ago on a cruise to South America and we hit it off. We were both artists, so we had endless conversations about creativity and various mediums, and in one South American port (neither of us remember where we were), we spent the day walking, talking, and taking photographs. We stayed in contact and became even better friends.
At first I felt mixed about taking the three-day class, then I realized it was exactly what I needed. Kathleen knew.
The class was taught by Serena Barton, an artist I have known for several years and always loved her work. I told Kathleen I would be honored to take her place and I packed my bags for the three-day class in Portland. I’ve worked in oil and cold wax for several years and have taught it myself, but I put on my student hat and just showed up, ready to immerse myself into the process.
Serena is an excellent teacher, and her methods are wild and free. I love this photo of her demo space.
I started slowly, just laying down paint, with the idea of working looser and wilder than my usual careful self. I painted so many things, all of which got covered over and transformed by the third and final day. These are all starts, none of which remain.
I learned some new things, like applying India ink as the first layer, which I transformed so much, none of the India ink even shows, but I know that initial bold mark making is in there somewhere.
Studio views of the class.
Studio views of the space.
Here are the pieces I completed (or are in process).
Parting shot.
Thank you Serena, for three great days of art-making, and thank you, Kathleen, for your generosity and friendship.
The 15th annual Something Red Show and Art Walk, sponsored by our local art group, Artists in Action, kicked off on Wednesday night. Artists were invited to submit two pieces of art featuring the color red, which were then juried and placed in locations around downtown Salem. Maps were provided so people were able to take a self-guided art walk to see the 100 entries. The jurors for this year’s show were: David Wilson (Gallery Director at the Bush Barn Art Center, Salem Art Association), Mary Lou Zeek (Gallery Owner and Art Consultant), and Thomas Rudd (Professional Artist/Sculptor and Gallery Curator). One of my pieces was chosen by the owner of Wild Pear Restaurant and the other piece was placed at Elsinore Framing and Fine Art Gallery.
Wednesday night was chilly, but clear and dry, so we bundled up and did the art walk. We found Filaments of Memory in the window of Wild Pear Restaurant, and slipped inside for a photo.
We continued on the walk, ending up at the Elsinore Gallery and Frame Shop, where my other piece, A Seasonal Echo, was hanging with other entries in the special exhibits gallery.
The awards ceremony took place at 7:30 and the room was packed with members and guests. Awards were given for several Bests: Use of Red, Digital, Photography, 3D, 2D, Youth, as well as two Honorable Mentions and two Juror’s Choice. I didn’t know how many awards were to be given out, or what the categories were, so as the awards ceremony was coming to an end, it was announced they would give out the final award, Best in Show. When my name was called, I was so shocked, I didn’t comprehend that I had won. In additional to a big, beautiful ribbon, I received an award of $100! I had no idea there was money involved.
When Howard I left for the evening, we walked back over to Wild Pear Restaurant, so I could stand in front of the window with my Best in Show ribbon.
“Filaments of Memory,” 24×24, plaster, oil, and cold wax, from my Evoke Series, by Dayna J. Collins.
Twice a year my Salem Art Group goes on an art retreat, one in the mountains along the Metolius River and the other at the Oregon Coast. For October, we were off to Cutler City to stay at a friend’s beach house, which is perched on a small hill with a view of the Siletz Bay. I rode with Tory, and if you’ve followed by blog for any length of time, the photo of my stuff lined up on my patio is familiar.
Six of our eight art group members were able to make our beach retreat.
Starting at the left and around the horn: Katy, Tory, Bonnie, Dayna, Susan, Nancy
In a nutshell, we spent three full days making art. Of course, there were walks, lattes, chatting, a movie on the life of Eva Hesse, reading, laughing, and a bit of sleeping.
New oil and cold wax work by Dayna J. CollinsNew oil and cold wax work by Dayna J. CollinsNew oil and cold wax work by Dayna J. Collins
In our spare time, we all made a little journal.
Visual Journal by Dayna J. Collins. Created using posters torn off of European walls and layered with family photos.
Dayna J. Collins on the left, Nancy Eng on the right.
The opening reception for Pathways and Passages was Friday night at the Borland Gallery. There was a nice steady stream of friends, who stopped by to see the show and say hello. The show is up through August 27th, so there is still plenty of time to visit. The Silverton Fine Arts Festival is the weekend of August 19th and 20th, and Nancy will be at the gallery on Saturday, August 19th, and I’ll be at the gallery on Sunday, August 20th.
Michael and Susan stopped by.
Nancy with Susan, Michael to the right, and Diane Trevett in the background.Jim chats with Robin.Lois, Howard, and Dave
First thing Monday morning, I drove out to Silverton and met up with Nancy Eng to hang our new show, Pathways and Passages. Hanging days are like piecing together a giant jigsaw puzzle. We both brought a lot of art, too much to hang everything, so we auditioned the pieces we had, moved things around until we found a place for most everything, and put the remaining pieces in storage. When something sells, the purchaser can take it with them if they are from out of town, and we can replace the piece on the wall with something from inventory. Here’s how our morning went.
A blank canvas at Silverton Arts Association Borland Gallery.
Dayna spread out her art in advance of hanging.
Dayna hangs her pieces. All of her paintings are plaster, oil, and cold wax on wood substrates.
Tapes measures are a necessity.
Merging the art of Dayna J. Collins and Nancy Eng.
The art of Dayna J. Collins on the left and Nancy Eng on the right.
“Dangerous Waters 1, 2, 3,” plaster, oil, and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins.
Little oil and cold wax pieces by Dayna J. Collins.
New series by Dayna J. Collins. Plaster, oil, and cold wax.
And then before we knew it, the show was up and we were finished.
Artists: Dayna J. Collins and Nancy Eng.
The opening reception is Friday, August 4, from 6-9 pm. Borland Gallery is part of the Silverton Arts Association and is located on the banks of Silver Creek in historic Coolidge-McClaine Park in Silverton.
About a year ago, I was invited to have a show along with my artist friend Nancy Eng, at Borland Gallery in Silverton. The gallery is part of the Silverton Arts Association, a long time artist organization in the quaint community of Silverton, which is located about 20 minutes east of Salem. Nancy had the idea for the theme of our show, Pathways & Passages, which was easy to translate into abstract landscapes and non-representational work.
Last week I stopped by the gallery for one last look before we hang next week.
I finished my pieces last week, and this week I have been doing the tedious, but necessary, work of assigning inventory numbers, giving them all titles, signing and pricing them, taking photos, and then packaging everything for transport.
Here’s a preview of some of the pieces that will be in the show. They range in size from 6×6 inches up to 30×60 inches, with lots of pieces in between.
“History Racing Past,” plaster, oil, and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins.“A Glimmer of Understanding Took Hold,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna J. Collins.“The Thrill of Discovery,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna J. Collins.“Memory Had Vanished,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna J. Collins.“A Moment of Stillness,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna J. Collins.“The Garden Seemed Enchanted,” plaster, oil, and cold wax by Dayna J. Collins.“Along the Shore,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna J. Collins.“Symbiotic Relationship,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna J. Collins.“Looking Backward in Time,” plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna J. Collins.
The opening reception is Friday, August 4th, from 6-9 pm. If you can’t make it then, a great weekend to visit would be the weekend of August 19 and 20, when the Silverton Fine Arts Festival is going on. The gallery will be open, and the festival will be taking place at the same location, nestled in the woods of the historic Coolidge-McClaine Park on the banks of Silver Creek.
