Workshops – Page 3 – Dayna J Collins

Mentorship Program: Emma

I had the good fortune to participate in Salem Art Association’s mentorship program again this year (here’s a link about my mentorship a year ago). During the program, high school students are paired with professional artists, who work with their student for several months helping the student build a portfolio of work. This year I had the pleasure of working with Emma, a sophomore at a local high school.

Emma chose to work in plaster and acrylic so during the past several months we met for Emma to prepare her boards and then do paint on them.

It was great to watch Emma work: she worked intuitively and was very confident and self-assured when it came to painting her boards. We met last week for our final session, where Emma signed her pieces and then applied a layer of cold wax to bring out the luscious and rich colors of her boards.

We loaded up Emma’s boards for transport to the reception site in downtown Salem.

Here are the five pieces Emma created during our mentorship:

Last night was the reception for all of the students and their mentors. What a fun evening!

And here’s beautiful Emma standing in front of her work.

The Artist’s Journey: An Online Class

I recently finished a four-week online class with California abstract artist Nancy Hillis. I don’t find many classes I want to take anymore, but something about this one caught my attention. The official title of the class was The Artist’s Journey: 3 Secrets of the Masters to Transform Your Painting. I was also attracted to this class because I love Nancy’s style of non-representational abstract paintings.

The class was four weeks with five modules. During the month long class, we watched video demonstrations, read written course material, worked through workbooks, and interacted with other participating artists in a private Facebook group. We even had the opportunity for a one-on-one telephone consultation with Nancy. Each week we were given a painting challenge to put the lessons into practice.

I won’t give away the class in detail, but I’ll share a bit of what we learned. Our modules covered everything from why we create art, to the importance of committing to a daily studio practice. Nancy covered a variety of topics, such as trusting yourself, the importance of practice, and allowing yourself to be surprised. She offered lots of lessons addressing various techniques, i.e., activating the canvas (making marks), to veiling and experimenting with flux (creating layers). The module on composition was invaluable, filled with game changing pointers. Module 4 covered value and how to use value to make strong and powerful paintings. The final module was a refresher of everything we covered and how to move forward. Wow. This class was worth the investment of money and time.

Photos. How do I choose which photos to share. Rather than break my post down into weekly bites, I’ll just share a sampling of photos taken throughout the past month.

About two weeks into the class, it was time for Art After Dark, the monthly Open Studios event at my downtown studio. I decided to share what I had been working on rather than display finished art like I usually do.

Palettes. I ended up with so many great pieces of paper that I used as my palette, that I saved a bunch of them!

Time to hang up my gloves? No, I’m more inspired and motivated than ever.

Road Trip! Teaching in San Diego

I was invited by the San Diego Book Arts to teach my plaster and acrylic class, Layers of Memory. It seemed so long ago that we scheduled a date, signed the contract, and made arrangements for travel. And before I knew it, I was packing four large suitcases with art supplies, handouts, and 34 pre-painted and plastered cradled boards.

I was also invited to give an artist talk on the Friday night before the class began. I gulped big and said yes. The art talk was held at the La Jolla Athenaeum, a beautiful facility.

I arrived early to get everything set up, and thank heavens my husband was along to take care of the technical side of getting the laptop connected to the projector.

A small group attended my talk, but I think it went well.

Saturday morning arrived and I made my way to Miramar College in the Mira Mesa area of San Diego, where we had a nice, spacious room on the second floor with plenty of room to spread out.

After a quick introduction to the class and the first of several demos, the ladies were off and running, getting their boards ready for plaster.

Before lunch on Saturday, plaster had been applied, and by afternoon, they were sanding and applying layers of acrylic paint, adding texture, drawing, and making marks. It was a hive of happy activity.

On Sunday, after a review of processes from the day before, and a few demos of new techniques, the ladies were once again off and running, making the most of every minute they had available to them.

At the end of the workshop, after everyone had cleaned up their supplies, we had a walkabout, where everyone could take photos; then everyone shared about the work they created.

Here is a sampling of the fantastic work created by these talented, creative, generous women:

Thank you, San Diego Book Arts! It was so much fun and very energizing.

Visual Journaling: Making a Mess

Late last summer, II was invited to participate in a pilot project between the Salem Art Association and Salem Hospital Cancer Institute. I did a session on creating art dolls last December, and this month I offered three sessions of visual journaling.

I provided all the materials for the ladies to make a simple journal and each week they jumped in fearlessly. Many of the women were undergoing chemo and they shared that for the hour and a half they forgot about their treatment and just had fun.

Their pages were beautiful, some completed, most just backgrounds waiting for words and images to be added.

And many vowed to continue working on their journals at home. One woman confided she planned to add pockets and was going to insert the messages she received from friends as she went through chemo.

One of the participants wrote me the sweetest note after the last class and with her permission I’ll share it here as it sums up so beautifully what the experience was like for her:

My observation was that this offering certainly has a healing place in the lives of – well anyone who needs healing. It is in the process – not necessarily the art and certainly not the finished product, but the individual elements in combination – side by side with people sharing a bit of their life even through illness and disease.

It has purpose, and I suppose gives us permission to ‘let go, and treat ourselves’ as the time flew by without a thought other than what color to use, where to put it.

The open format you offered covered many art forms and medium – a great introduction, or experience for all levels to both find comfort and step out of that familiar place.

I have begun a journal project at home using felt, and fine paper. It feels more like I am in control – so I can introduce – at a slower pace – all of the delicious things that I tried to put onto one page…

Curious About Oil and Cold Wax?

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be teaching my Plaster, Oil, and Cold Wax: Abstracted Play class in August. It will be held at the wonderful studio of Stacey Mattraw, Arcangelo Productions, located in a hip, diverse, funky area of North Portland.

The class will be held Friday-Sunday, August 14-16, 10 am-5 pm every day.

The first day we’ll be painting our boards and applying plaster and by Friday afternoon we’ll be learning oil and cold wax techniques (I provide you with a pre plastered board so we don’t waste a minute of our precious time.)

On Saturday morning, we’ll sand our plastered boards.

And quickly seal them with acrylic paint.

By Saturday afternoon, we’ll be applying layers and layers of luminous, buttery, oil and cold wax.

I’ll be sharing lots of techniques throughout the weekend on how to add interesting texture, add text, scrape back, and so much more.

As an added special bonus, on Thursday evening, 5-6:30 pm, we’ll meet at Arcangelo Productions for a pre-workshop gathering hosted by Stacey. We’ll have snacks and drinks and get to know each other in advance of the class beginning on Friday morning. We have also scheduled a field trip to Collage, a delightful, and full-to-the-brim art supply store on NE Alberta, where Maria is offering a 10% discount on all purchases.

The cost of the three-day class (with some supplies included) is $375. A $100 deposit holds your space, with the balance due on July 14, 2015. If you are interested, please contact me: dayna@alleyartstudio.com and I’ll e-mail detailed information about what supplies are included, what you need to bring, and my refund policy. Also, if you’re coming from out of town, I can send you information on places to stay in the surrounding area.

The maximum number of students will be 12 and five spaces are available as of this posting.

Me teaching the Abstracted Play class in Gig Harbor, WA

If you’d like to see photos from previous classes, here are two links. Number one and number two.

And I’ll leave you with a few more samples of my plaster, oil, and cold wax pieces.

"The Journey Home: The Ease of Slumber" Venetian plaster, oil, cold wax — “The Journey Home: The Ease of Slumber”
Venetian plaster, oil, cold wax

"Insatiably Curious" 16x16, plaster, oil, and cold wax — “Insatiably Curious”
16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax

Abstracted Play: Three Day Workshop

I’ve just spent the past three days guiding six beautiful women through the process of using plaster, oil, and cold wax. This was the first workshop held at The Art Studios at Mission Mill and it was a huge success. We went from this:

to this:

The women bonded instantly on Friday and by the end of Sunday, my sides were sore from laughing so much.

Friday afternoon we painted our boards and applied plaster.

Then on Saturday morning the ladies sanded and stained.

Before lunch on Saturday, I had the women applying initial layers of oil and cold wax.

And by the end of Saturday, the hall was filled with drying art.

Sunday morning, we were back at it.

We had snacks available all the time . . . .

. . . and on Sunday, Howard delivered a salad bar lunch to us.

Before we knew it, it was time to clean up and prepare for show and tell.

Here is a sampling of the incredible work the women created. A sampling, I tell you!

It was an energizing, exciting, creative three days.

Messy, Messy, Messy

I was asked by the Salem Art Association if I would like to participate in their high school mentorship program. It took me all of seven seconds to respond with a big fat YES. It is a rigorous program for the students who apply. They first have to complete an application, responding to a series of questions, provide two letters of recommendation from their art teachers or principal, then they go through interviews; there are only 15 available spots. Once they are accepted into the program, they attend two events per month during the school year. As part of the program, artists are invited to mentor students based upon what the student has indicated as art goals. I was invited to mentor three students: Olivia, Madeline, and Simon.

I met with each of the students for an initial consultation so I could get to know each of them and find out their art goals and how I could help them be accomplished. All three students were interested in mixed media, plaster, oil and cold wax, and experimenting. After meeting with all three students, I was excited as they were.

Since all three were interested in some of the same types of experimentation and exploration, I scheduled a couple of mini workshops during their holiday break. For the first workshop, we prepped boards with a variety of materials: gesso (white and colored), plaster, and venetian plaster. They all jumped right in.

On Friday, we’re getting together again to make decisions about the next step for the boards. Acrylic? Oil and cold wax? Paper? Pencil? So many choices.

Expressive Art Experience

Several months ago I was asked by the Salem Art Association if I would be interested in participating in a pilot program to offer therapeutic art classes at Salem Hospital’s Cancer Institute. I enthusiastically agreed and offered up some ideas for classes I could teach. Yesterday was the inaugural offering: Embellishing a Soft Cloth Doll, a class I have offered for several years through my studio and through Salem Art Association events.

My personal collection of art dolls I have created over the years.

The class was small, but the women who attended were enthusiastic and grateful for the opportunity to make art and play. We knew when we scheduled the class, that people might not feel up to attending when the day rolled around.

The dolls that were completed:

It was a wonderful experience to offer a respite in the lives of these brave women. One of the participants said she had not done any art since being diagnosed with cancer and beginning treatment. It was a joy to re-ignite that spark for her.

Abstracted Play: On the Road

I was invited by Kristina Trudell, a Washington artist I had met in a previous workshop, if I would be willing to teach my plaster/oil/cold wax class, Abstracted Play, either in Salem, Portland, or Washington. Since I have a daughter in Tacoma, I decided to make it a road trip. Of course, if I’m on an art road trip, it usually involves Tory Brokenshire. I invited Tory to join me, and she did the driving; we picked up two artists along the way and made the trip north last Friday afternoon.

Tory surprised each of us with a goody bag for the drive north.

The class was held at the home of Kathie Vezzani, who lives in Gig Harbor. Oh my. She prepared a wonderful space for the workshop and provided several gourmet meals. (Side note: Kathie arranges art trips around the world, so check out her blog and get on her mailing list for information on her upcoming trips.)

Friday night we prepared our boards with paint and plaster.

By morning, the plaster was dry and ready for sanding and more paint.

Before noon on Saturday, we were laying down layers of oil and cold wax.

The food Kathie prepared was delicious, and the weather was perfect.

Then back to it.

Saturday night we took a little road trip to the Key Peninsula for dinner at Leslie’s house. It was a magical and dream-like evening.

Sunday was our final day. A time to work on our pieces, resolve problems, start over, scrape back, scritch, scratch, and finally, lay out our pieces for show and tell.

What a great weekend. And this was our view on the drive home Sunday evening.

To Teach or Not to Teach: I Say TEACH

To teach or not to teach. I used to teach quite a bit, then I took a year and half hiatus to focus on my art. The time away from teaching allowed me to dedicate more time to creating my own style of painting, and I’m glad I temporarily stepped away from teaching. But I’ve been feeling the urge to teach again. I’ll be teaching a plaster, oil and cold wax class later this month in Gig Harbor to a closed, private, group of artists. I’ll also be teaching my Layers of Memory plaster class next May in southern California (details on that will be shared later). And I’m ready to begin teaching regularly in Salem.

My good art friend Tory and I recently leased studio space with a group of artists at Mission Mill (Willamette Heritage Center) and there are two common areas that will be available for offering classes. I’m in. But what to teach? That’s where I’m seeking input. For those who know me or have taken classes from me in the past, what would you like to see offered? If you don’t know me and have never had a class from me, what would interest you? Here are some ideas that I’ve been thinking about.

Layers of Memory
Working with plaster to create texture and interest.

Oil and Cold Wax: Abstracted Play
Creating abstract pieces using oil and cold wax.

Oil and Cold Wax with a Punch of Plaster
A combination of both the plaster workshop and then the addition of oil and cold wax workshop (this is how most of my pieces of are created).

Visual Journals
Building a journal from scratch, then incorporating visual journal techniques on the pages.

Visual Journal in a Deck
A couple years ago I created a visual journal using oversized flash cards. This class would go from prep to art on the gessoed cards, incorporating a variety of techniques and prompts.

Prayer Flags
I’ve just finished a summer of creating and overseeing the creation of prayer flags through my Scattered By the Wind Prayer Flag Project. This class would be basically a time to create a personal strand of prayer flags.

Art Dolls
Why not be a kid again. Paint and embellish a tall, skinny muslin Bendi doll.

Please let me know what class or classes you would be interested in and I’ll put together a schedule of classes. Contact me with your thoughts: dayna@daynajcollins.com/curele.

Is there something else you would like to see me teach? Let me know that, too.