I am often asked how I come up with the titles for my paintings, so I’m going to spill the beans. Whenever I’m reading a beautifully written novel, I keep a piece of paper and a pen handy to jot down portions of sentences or phrases that resonate with how the words are put together. I do the same when I am reading poetry, just taking a few of the words, or “word fragments,” and scribbling them on a scrap of paper. I keep all of my pieces of paper gathered together on a clipboard, which I then refer to when it is time to name a painting. And I get to use one of my vintage clipboards!
It is a bit of a wonky system, and takes some maneuvering, but it has worked for me for many years and I enjoy the process of looking through my scribbles and putting together new combinations of words from the word fragments on my scraps of paper.
I have painted hundreds of paintings over the years, but here is a sampling of my work and the titles I have chosen.
“A Narrow Illumination,” plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled birch panel, by Dayna J. Collins“According to Sylvia Plath, the tulips are subtle, they seem to float,” plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled birch panel, by Dayna J. Collins“A Protective Charm,” acrylic on 300 lb. watercolor paper, by Dayna J. Collins“A Ghostly Process of Waves,” oil and cold wax on cradled birch panel, by Dayna J. Collins“Small Bursts of Illumination,” acrylic on wood panel, mounted in floating frame, by Dayna J. Collins“Fallen Sun,” oil and cold wax on cradled birch panel, by Dayna J. Collins
Sometime back in 2012 (maybe before), I received a gift from my good friend Sam Hart, one of the most creative people I know and the superstar behind (the now defunct) Lil’ Gypsy vintage shop. On occasion, Sam left me gifts at my doorstep (she still does!) and back in 2012, when I had my studio in a small house on an alley in NE Salem, Sam gifted me this mannequin. She had a few battle scars (the mannequin, not Sam), so I wrapped her in a boa and gave her a pep talk.
Circa 2012
When I later moved my studio home, she hung out with me for a while upstairs . . . .
. . . and then she got banished to the basement.
I often thought about how I wanted to give her a new life. For a brief moment I thought about adding collage to her entire self, but it never seemed quite right. Then one day a few months ago, I decided to repair some ofĀ her more severe scarring. I put on my plastic surgery scrubs, and with a bit of duct tape and plaster, I repaired the worst of her owies.
After a light dermabrasion sanding, I gave her a clean slate: gesso, the great eraser.
She was hanging out in my studio as I was transferring acrylic paint into squeeze bottles, so as I was doing this, I started using leftover paint on her body (I really should name her).
Layer by layer, patch by patch, swath by swath, drip by drip, my lady was transformed.
She was taken to the basement and given a coat of semi-gloss varnish to protect and seal her, then I did some drip painting on the base. And today is her debut!
Now I just need to figure out where she will live.
On January 31st, I jumped into the #100dayproject. This project is facilitated by Lindsay Jean Thompson and you can learn more about the project by simply clicking right HERE. If you don’t feel like clicking, here is what the project is about:
Pick something you want to do every day for the 100 days of the project. You’ll post each instance of 100 on your Instagram account with the hashtag #The100DayProject. What can you do? Anything at all! Paint, draw, dance, knit, doodle, sing, brush your teeth.Ā Once you have an idea, here are some practical tips: Make sure you can do it in 5-10 minutes a day. More time is nice if you have it, but if it’s a really time-consuming project you probably won’t do it every day. What are you curious about? What do you love to do just because? What do you want to get better at? Brainstorm with a friend or make a list of ideas. What have other people done that you find interesting? Or maybe your project is 100 days of figuring out what to do. That’s cool! Another good place to start is by thinking about what you want to get out of doing the project.
I decided I wanted to explore working on a non precious substrate and what is more non precious than brown paper bags. I carry my own reusable bags with me, but somehow I always seem to accumulate brown paper bags that I don’t throw away (or even recycle). It might be from when I order take out, or when I purchase something that doesn’t fit into the portable cloth bag I carry in my purse. For whatever reason, I decided to tear up an abundant resource and experiment with different kinds of art on a scrap of brown craft paper.
My first post on Instagram (you can find me at DaynaLovesArt) at the beginning of the project:
Iām jumping in toĀ #the100dayprojectĀ and the challenge Iāve set up for my 100 day project is to paint a quick abstract painting or make paint marks on a scrap of a brown paper bag every day for 100 days. I needed something quick and easy, portable for my sometimes portable life, and a way to try out new ideas: colors, composition, marks…… and to create collage fodder for my stash…….and imagine the cool jumbo collage I can make with all of the brown paper bag painted scraps.Ā #the100dayswithdaynaĀ 1/100
Now here it is 50 days later, the halfway point. Over the past 50 days I have created in my painting studio, in my basement studio, along the Oregon Coast, in Northern California, in Gig Harbor, and in Astoria. I get around. I have also used a multitude of materials, including (disclaimer: but not limited to):Ā acrylic paint, Stabilo pencils, plaster, oil paint, cold wax, collage, black and white photos, book scraps, varnish, charcoal, Woody pencils, acrylic pens, and oil pastels.
I have already incorporated some of the pieces I have created in other projects, Salvage Collage on book boards, and in my 2021 journal.
In no particular order, here is a smattering of the pieces I have created on the lowly brown paper bag.
Awhile back I purchased a large reddish metal star at a closeout sale with the intention of painting it and hanging it at our beach house in Astoria. I didn’t know what color I would paint it, but then inspiration struck. I would use ALL the colors. I had done splatter painting a year ago, when I embellished a concrete statue, and I liked how it turned out.
So I got out a tarp, all of my cheap craft paints, a water spray bottle, and put on my paint clothes. I put the star in the middle of the tarp . . . .
. . . and got started with flinging paint.
Somewhere early in the process, I remembered we had two chairs that we had spray painted last summer, but were in need of sprucing up, so I dragged out another tarp and got the two chairs out of storage. That’s when it really got fun (and very messy).
I spent the afternoon flinging paint, using up the little bottles of craft paint. Even our cat Sinatra was interested by the end of the afternoon.
Post Script: I had so much fun that afternoon, that I went upstairs and pulled out a partial painting of acrylic on a cradled wood panel and put it on the floor in my studio. Using my Nova paints in squirt bottles, and with more intention that my wild painting outside, I kind of carefully flung paint onto the painting.
When it was thoroughly dry, I took the painting to the basement and applied a layer of water-based varnish.
I must admit, I kind of love it a lot.
“A Sense of Pandemonium” 31x24x1-1/2″ Dayna J. Collins
A rare glimpse of me in my basement lair*, where I store all of my scavenged paper, vintage scrapbooks, ephemera, photographs, book scraps, old books, and book boards, and where I work on my Salvage Collages.
Lately, I have been on a Salvage Collage toot, and I work on collages in three ways:
ā¦ In a vintage scrapbook/journal/notebook devoted to experimenting with collage ideas.
ā¦ In my 2021 journal, which is a combination of collage, paint, photos, etc. Anything goes.
ā¦ On discarded book boards to create official Salvage Collages, which are for sale.
So join me for a whirlwind tour of the lady in the basement.
Here are a few photos of my scrapbook journal where I experiment with ideas for collages and create just for me. The journal itself was used as a scrapbook/workbook for someone in the Department of Marine Engineering and Naval Construction (1905) and the pages are filled with notes, drawings, assignments (with corrections and grading), and mimeographed training papers. I pulled out most of the glued in papers, but bits of residue are still present.
Vintage Scrapbook/Journal/Notebook by Dayna J. Collins
Next up is my 2021 journal. It is usually a paint journal, but this year I decided to create a junk journal, a journal I made using found papers to create three signatures, which I then sewed into a book where I had pulled out all of the book pages. This is a work in progress and I just started adding collage and paint at the beginning of the new year.
Finally, my ongoing Salvage Collages, always in some level of process, always spread out on the table; my washer and dryer are across from my work tables, making it convenient to throw in a load of laundry, then spin around and start puttering and auditioning scraps of papers, book pieces, or black and white photographs. During these work sessions, I usually find myself working on all three: Salvage Collages on book boards, my 2021 Journal, and my experimental vintage scrapbook/journal.
I am always trying to move my Salvage Collages in different directions, pushing what I have already done, finding new ways to use my materials. Recently, four friends gifted me lots of wonderful papers, ephemera, and photographs, and these new materials have been informing my latest work. (A special thank you to Sam, Bonnie, Jami, and Mavis for your generosity and interesting papers and photos.) Here is a selection from my most recent Salvage Collages.
“Bold Adventures,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Constant Equilibrium,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Silent Recognition,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Reciting Poetry by Heart,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Weighing Possibilities,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Mischief Makers,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Beverly,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“A Series of Concurrent Events,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“A Little Out of Place” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Full of Sweet Nostalgia,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“A Smoldering Promise,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“A Sense of Purpose,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Void of Silence,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Spirit of Cooperation,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Seeking Forgiveness,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“Interrupted Story,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins“The Echoes and Shouts of Memory,” Salvage Collage on book board by Dayna J. Collins
Several of these new pieces are available at Salem on the EdgeĀ and others are available directly through me.
*It is also where I store all of my metal, wood, found objects, crazy collections, and miscellaneous stuff that defies classification. But today’s focus is on collage materials.
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.
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.
Technique demo 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.
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
[/ÉbĖseSHÉn/]
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.
I will soon complete journal #6 in my quest to do a daily painting in my visual journal throughout 2019. We’ve been revamping a house in Astoria on the Oregon coast, so I’m about a week behindĀ two weeks behind in my daily paintings, and I plan to get caught up after Thanksgiving. Yesterday I cataloged the pages I have completed since early October, so I thought I would share some of my favorites.
October 6, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 7, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 8, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 9, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 10, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 20, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 23, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 23, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 27, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 28, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsNovember 3, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsNovember 4, 2019 Dayna J. Collins
Time for an update of my year long project of painting in a visual journal every day. Here’s a selection of pages from late summer through early fall. Favorites:
August 11, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsAugust 12, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsAugust 31, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 1, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 4, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 5, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 14, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 16, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 18, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 19, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 21, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 22, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 25, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 27, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 28, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 29, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsSeptember 30, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 2, 2019 Dayna J. CollinsOctober 5, 2019 Dayna J. Collins
Themes continue to emerge: Play, experimentation, circles, layers, mark-making, revealing, excavation, color, lines . . . . and I’m in the final three months of my project.
What a wild week. Twelve women artists came together to take my Abstracted Play in Oil and Cold Wax workshop at theĀ 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.
