Painting Studio – Page 5 – Dayna J Collins

Painting Frenzy

Frenzy might be an overstatement, but I have been spending more time in my studio and after a fairly long hiatus, I have returned to painting with oil and cold wax.

Since 2016, I have taught a four-day Abstracted Landscape class at Sitka for Art and Ecology on the Oregon Coast. Because of the pandemic, this year’s class, which was sold out and scheduled for August 21-24, was canceled (as were all classes at Sitka).

Somehow the idea of not teaching this year inspired me to jump back in to oil and cold wax after several months of painting with acrylics and working on a series of collages. It felt good to crack open the gallon of cold wax and whip up a satisfying mound of wax, begin choosing tubes of oil paint to mix, and dig out my R & F Pigment Sticks.

I had one deadline for a painting (so that was a BIG motivator to get into the studio and do some painting and I’ll share about that project when I can), but otherwise, I decided to pull out old boards that I had used for demos in my Sitka class last year. None of the pieces were completed, they just had fits and starts of paint and marks on them, all used to illustrate techniques and then set aside. It was nice to have something to respond to besides a plain, blank, board.

I also revamped a few boards that had been completed paintings, but something was niggling at me and those pieces got a light sanding to rough up the surface, and then I started over. It was nice to erase an old painting, but know that there was that sense of history lurking below the surface.

pen·ti·men·to

^{[ pen-tuh-men-toh ]}

noun, plural pen·ti·men·ti [pen-tuh-men-tee] . Painting.

the presence or emergence of earlier images, forms, or strokes that have been changed and painted over.

What has emerged during my extended painting sessions is the reoccurring theme of circles. I have always loved polka dots and circles and they have shown up in my work for years, but lately I have tipped over into obsession.

obsession

[/əbˈseSHən/]

noun

the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.

I’m using circles to excess and eventually I’ll reign myself in. Or not. In the meantime, here are several pieces in various stages of completion. All are on cradled wood substrates and they all have either Venetian plaster or limestone clay (the fancy name for joint compound) as an under layer. Other than that, some of the paint is from an earlier completed piece, or is from a demo at Sitka. Almost all of these have circles somewhere as a layer – in the plaster, buried in the paint, added on top of the paint, or some of the paint removed using a stencil to reveal paint, the circles serving as a window into an earlier layer.

Abstracted Play in Oil and Cold Wax: August 2019

What a wild week. Twelve women artists came together to take my Abstracted Play in Oil and Cold Wax workshop at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. Some had taken my class previously, a few had learned from other instructors, and quite a few had never worked with oil paint or cold wax, and one was new to painting. There was some gnashing of teeth, lots of laughter, a little whining, a smidgeon of frustration, and in the end, happiness with their success and the beauty of their pieces.

I did demos every morning and afternoon . . .

The women then worked on their own pieces, working in multiples so they had lots of pieces to work on at various stages of the process.

One thing I loved seeing was the camaraderie of how the women supported each other and worked together.

I gave my Artist Talk on Saturday after lunch (they all showed up for my talk, although this photo makes it look like no one did!).

On our last day, we worked in the morning and then in the afternoon cleaned up our supplies, spread out our body of work, and did a walkabout, sharing the highlights of the week.

Here is an assortment of the work created during the week, in no particular order, some on boards, some on Arches Oil Paper, some large and some small:

It was a really fun week.

PS This was the second time I got to teach at Sitka this summer. In June, there was an opening and I was able to slip in a bonus version of this workshop, which I blogged about earlier.

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.

Restorative Painting: Sitka Workshop

I wrote a blog post on May 8 about 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.

Restorative Painting: The Architecture of Memory

I met Pat Wheeler at the Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC) in 2009. I had signed up for her The Architecture of Memory: Paintings and Constructions class, using plaster, acrylics, and cold wax. I was hooked. I proceeded to take Pat’s class for several years to hone my skills, but also to be in Pat’s presence and experience her energy, passion, and welcoming spirit. Pat and I became friends and I view Pat as an important mentor in my art journey.

A week ago, I received an email from Pat, asking if I could step in for her and teach both of her Pacific Northwest classes: one at OCAC and the other at Sitka. I was humbled, honored, and a bit overwhelmed. Plans were set in motion. Pat wrote a letter to her enrolled students and class descriptions were revised. Pat and I were in steady contact, collaborating on how I could best represent her in the classes, while bringing my own interpretation and teaching style to the classes.

I was out of town during all of this, taking a class on Whidbey Island. Throughout the week, I was furiously writing myself lists, making notes, reading Pat’s messages and her sources of inspiration. My version of the class began to take shape, starting with Pat’s process, folding in the way I have used Pat’s original process, yet made it my own. I’ve taught my own version of the plaster class myself, but somehow, stepping in for Pat, has a certain reverence to it.

If you aren’t familiar with the process, it is a wonderful experience. Here’s a snippet from the class description:

Dayna works in layers, revealing color, texture, and what came before. Using paint, plaster, charcoal, graphite, scraping, sanding, staining, writing, concealing, and revealing, Dayna will take everyone on a journey of discovery, building up a surface, then tearing a portion away, never fully revealing what came before. Look closely and you’ll see word fragments and decomposing texture. Dayna intentionally utilizes the concept of pentimento, where traces and shadows of earlier layers of paintings are revealed.

A few shots from various stages of the process.

Registration is now open at both OCAC (class runs May 30-June 3) and Sitka (class runs from June 5-June 8). If you have any questions about the classes or the process, please email me: dayna@alleyartstudio.com

I will miss seeing Pat this year, but I’m looking forward to her return to the Pacific Northwest next year.

Waterlines Art Show: Making Headway

“Where the Blue is Deep and Soft and Silent,” 24×24 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

I am happy to share the news that I’m having a show at Guardino Gallery in NE Portland. My show is titled Waterlines and I’ve been painting and preparing for almost a year, although I’ve been experimenting and painting waterlines for the past three years. My fascination with waterlines began as a child. Growing up as the daughter of a river rat on the Columbia River, plus time spent at my grandparent’s beach cabin on the Oregon Coast, I learned to love waterlines at an early age. In the summer of 2014, as I was floating in the Columbia River, I noticed the waterline on a boat. I was captivated by the beautiful colors and imagined it as an abstract painting.

“The Wind Stilled Itself,” 10x10x2 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

I like to describe waterlines as: Where water meets an edge. A shoreline. The hull of a ship. The sand. Riverbanks. Sky. In exploring various forms of waterlines, I am especially interested in experimenting with the intersections, where water meets the land. I ask myself, “What’s happening at the horizon line? Turbulence or ripples. Calmness or agitation. What’s above, or, what’s below.

“The Turmoil of Raging Tides,” 12×12 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

Drawing upon the flexibility of working with oil paint mixed with cold wax medium and sometimes R and F Pigment Sticks, I am able to create layers of color using palette and putty knives to apply, push, pull, and scrape the layers of paint to reveal and explore the rick complexity of water, land, and sky.

“Sweet Blue Rhythm,” 8×8 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

The show opens Thursday, April 27 and runs through May 21st. The opening reception is Thursday, April 27th from 6-9 pm.

“Heat Waves Buckling the Air,” 11×14 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

Up, Down, and All Around

I am working on three different projects right now, in three different studios. Come on, I’ll take you on a quick tour.

This is a look at my second floor studio located at the Willamette Heritage Center and part of The Art Studios at Mission Mill. I have converted my studio from an all purpose space to an area devoted to working on my What’s Your Story mixed media/collage project.

Here’s a sample of my project.

At my central Salem home, I use the basement of my 1926 house as my assemblage studio. Currently, I’m putting the finishing touches on a piece for the Salem Reads: One Book, One Community Project. Salem is hosting their first ever community reads event and several artists were invited to create a piece of art in response to the book Spare Parts.

My piece, Everything Accounted For, will be hung in the Salem Library Spare Parts art exhibit at the end of this month. I’ll share my completed piece once I have put the finishing touches on it.

Finally, my painting studio is in a big airy space upstairs at my house. Right now, I’m immersed in oil and cold wax in preparation for two upcoming shows in 2017.

Here’s a piece I’ve been working on this week for my Waterlines show at Guardino Gallery in May.

I’ll be sharing more about all of these projects in the future.

A Studio Story

I recently changed studios. It all happened rather quickly and unexpectedly, but I jumped on the opportunity to make the switch. I’ve been in Studio F since the Art Studios at Mission Mill opened in October of 2014. I started out sharing the space with my good friend Tory, then she moved out into Studio B sometime in 2015. For the past year, Studio F has been my space.

Two weeks ago, one of our studio members decided not to renew her lease, creating an opening for Studio A, a lovely corner studio overlooking the stream and the Willamette Heritage Center. Two artists were interested in the studio, Rollie and myself, so it required a dual, I mean a drawing, which occurred a week ago Friday. We sought out an independent person to do the drawing. Max Marbles, our resident bookbinder was selected, and the drawing took place, with Max’s son Spencer, doing the actual drawing.

My name was drawn and I set to work putting my mark on Studio A, rushing against the clock in time for our monthly Art After Dark Open Studios. First up was painting, which I accomplished (with the help of my husband) on Sunday. tick tick tick

Monday and Tuesday of last week were moving days. As I moved my stuff out of Studio F, Rollie was moving his stuff into Studio F, all part of the grand studio shuffle.

Mission accomplished by Tuesday night, with fine tuning happening on Wednesday and Thursday, all in time for last Thursday night’s Open Studios.

Studio glimpses:

I am using Studio A as my special projects studio, and accordingly I moved the bulk of my oil and cold wax supplies to my painting studio at home. In my Mill studio I’ll be working on a project I’ve had in the works for several months: What’s Your Story? Real or Imagined. . . . telling stories through black and white photos. More on all of this later.

Abstracted Play: Three days of oil and cold wax

The paint was flying last week when I hosted a three day oil and cold wax workshop called Abstracted Play. The class was held in the classroom at The Art Studios at Mission Mill, so I kept the number of students to five to maximize space. But we had a kitchen, an espresso machine, lots of snacks, and a lovely art lounge to hang out in, so we made do.

The class consisted of demos, work time, one-on-one assistance, more demos, feedback and support. Photos tell the story better than anything I could say.

The artists created some lovely work during the three days. Here is a sampling.

Such a fun, hard-working group of women. They assured me they cycled all the way from number 1 to finally landing at number 6. Whew, but it was touch and go for a while.