My friend Tory and I talked about forming an art group for quite awhile and pulled the trigger in March of 2011. We sent an invitation to six artists, asking if they would be interested in a monthly outing where everyone would meet at a prearranged destination to sketch, journal, paint, take photos, or just sit — hopefully a cup of coffee or tea would be involved. Our first outing was to Mt. Angel Abbey, where the day was spent exploring the campus and visiting the Rare Book Room.
We decided early on that we wanted to limit the size of the group to eight members, ten at the most, so we would remain small enough to take field trips and schedule weekend art retreats. At first, we tried being official and organized, keeping minutes from meetings, setting up attendance requirements, and even coming up with a mission statement (Tightly knit group committed to support, friendship, community and art). Most of those things fell by the wayside as no one wanted to be encumbered by unnecessary administrative tasks.
Though the membership has changed over the years, the current group of eight, whose work is shown here, remains engaged in their personal art practices and supportive of each other as group members…and they have a lot of fun.
Our group was invited to create an exhibit at the Salem Art Association Art Annex that showcased our individual talents, but also celebrated being a member of an art group, something that united us. The result:
At the entrance to the show, is a wall of studio photos, highlighting our personal spaces.
The exhibit space is divided into walls featuring our art.
Bonnie Hull.
Kathy Shen.
Kay Worthington house sculpture and wall quilt.
Susan Napack.
Katy Vigland.
Nancy and Kathy’s work on the wall, sculpture by Tory Brokenshire.
Kay Worthington.
Dayna J. Collins.
The piece I submitted, Singed by Fire and Light, was from my Evoke show at Guardino Gallery in 2015, and represented my recovery journey since 2000. It has been hanging at my husband’s office, so it was nice to have it back hanging in public view.
This show was perfectly timed to celebrate our current crew of eight women, as Kathy Shen, one of our original members, is moving this summer. During this time of transition, we have invited three new members. To save you from doing math, here it is: We have eight, one is leaving, three are joining = ten.
New SAG Members: Jessica Ramey, Elizabeth Bauman, and Lucy Hewitt.
Next up, a post about our reception, which was held on May 16th.
Once a quarter, The Art Studios at Mission Mill, host Art After Dark/Open Studios. Our most recent event was January 11th. I was the featured artist in the studio gallery/classroom and I decided in addition to hanging some of my recent work, I would offer a mini workshop on creating a modified What’s Your Story mixed media collage. I set up some of the walls in the gallery as teaching walls. One wall told the history of the project, another showed samples of possible backgrounds, and then one wall showed the progression from blank 140 lb. watercolor paper to finished mixed media collages. (The other two walls were my most recent work using old, defaced books, but I’ll share those pieces in a separate post.)
I created three small sample collages, done using original letters, envelopes, and an assortment of ephemera, along with photocopies of black and white photographs.
With my guidance, guests were invited to create a little mixed media collage.
All ages participated, and Alex sat and read old letters to us during the evening.
Of course, sometimes the adults found it difficult to resist reading the letters.
Some of the collages created during the evening event.
All of this was a great set up and preparation for last weekend, when I taught the first of my two-day full length What’s Your Story, Real of Imagined workshop. I’ll be doing a post about my workshops in the coming days.
The past year has been the most exciting and exhilarating of my art career. It all stared in the fall of 2016 when I told people, I have nothing major on my calendar for the upcoming year. I plan to just play and explore. And then everything changed . . . .
I’ve blogged about most of these events, but here is an abbreviated summary of my 2017 art life.
Spare Parts Show at the Salem Public Library
Art Featured in New Book: Cold Wax Medium
Solo Show at Guardino Gallery: Waterlines
Salem Art Association Mentorship Program
Taught an Oil and Cold Wax Class at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
Private Master Class with Pat Wheeler
Two Person Show at Borland Gallery
11th Annual Day of the Dead Show at Guardino Gallery
Artist in Residence at the Salem Art Association Art Annex
Salem Art Association Panel Discussion
What’s Your Story Workshop
Symbols Show at the Art Annex
Guest on KMUZ Talking About Art
Sitka Art Invitational
17th Annual Guardino Gallery Little Things Show
BEST IN SHOW Something Red Art Walk
It was a great year. And I’m not making any proclamations about 2018. Mum’s the word.
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.
My month long Artist in Residence (AIR) at the Salem Art Association’s Art Annex, ended on November 22. I moved into my temporary studio on October 24th (and blogged about it on October 25th and again on October 31st). It was a busy and exciting month of creating a series of mixed media collages on watercolor paper, as well as pushing myself into some new territory.
Where I hung out for a month, located in the middle of Bush’s Pasture Park.
Welcome to my studio . . . .
During my Artist in Residence, I had open studio hours and loved having visitors.
A page from my guest book.
Stephanie and Tory stopped for a visit; Jim and Jo Hockenhull were frequent visitors and brought their nephew.
Visitors to the Annex stopped to check out my project.
Cynthia worked on collages she started in my earlier workshop. Howard stopped by to wire some of my art.
Irene enjoyed looking at my old photos.
Nic (Dave) and Sloy (Sandra) stopped for a visit.
I completed an expansive body of work. Here are ten of my completed mixed media collages, all created using black and white photos of strangers.
For those curious about what the day-to-day experience of my AIR was like, I’m sharing some of my journal entries and corresponding photographs.
Wednesday, October 25: First official day of AIR. Fine tuning my set up. Brought in another table, also a comfortable roller chair. I will finalize my class packets today, hang sample collages, and hopefully get started on sample technique cards: paint, plaster, transfer, inks . . . .
Wednesday, November 1: Ready to settle in to do my own work, but first I need to finish putting things away from Saturday’s workshop and put away my bounty from Sunday’s antique EXPO. Of course, all my stuff makes me reevaluate how I have things organized, but I get joy from organizing it and I am continually inspired and come up with new ideas.
Wednesday, November 3: My brain is full and bursting with ideas. I try and jot notes as ideas form and then transfer the ideas into my journal. TAKE AWAY: Dedicated daily studio time is essential for spinning off new ideas and to create a body of work. Yesterday I worked with transfers and backgrounds. I will continue with that thread. Also, wood. I am moving away from paper and toward wood.
Wednesday, November 8: A full day ahead, as many hours as I want or need. Continuing to work on wood pieces, especially the crate pieces. I must tackle the center of the wood pieces; stymied by the transfer image I put in the middle. I need to build a surface. Color? Plaster? Original style: collage on complex background? Or grid using papers, and then unified by collage (simple or complex). Yikes. I’m stuck.
Thursday, November 9: Yesterday was extremely productive and I landed on an idea for the three wood pieces, which gave me focus. Today I will hopefully create three book cover collages (or five . . . .). I will also finish 3-5 collages for my wall in the style of the original pieces. Fun to continue expanding that vision. Not bored with it after all.
Wednesday, November 15: Rainy and I wanted to stay home, tucked inside, but I’m honoring my commitment and I showed up. Puttering with paper collages and getting ready to sand and stain my plastered boards. I’ll begin to lay out book covers, matching a photo with a library check out card – I’ve got some good ones. Counting today, only four more days of my AIR . . . . unless I work this weekend. It’s possible.
Three completed pieces showcasing defaced book covers.
“The Accuracy of Memory,” by Dayna J. Collins.
“Years Bleach Away the Sense of Things,” by Dayna J. Collins.
“The Familiarity of Something,” by Dayna J. Collins.
Tuesday, November 20: Final day of working in the studio. Feeling sad to be leaving. I’ve treated my time here as a job, showing up regularly and moving my projects along, gaining new ideas and insights along the way. Today is a bit about photography – capturing images, more than enough. My friend Stephanie said I was part archivist, part storyteller, part mad scientist. Another quote to post.
My big, beautiful, and expansive inspiration wall.
Wednesday, November 21: Packing up and moving out.
Taking down the last of my inspiration wall.
Packed up and moved out.
UPDATE:
I’ve spent the past few days getting settled into Studio A, my space for the past three years at The Art Studios at Mission Mill, located on the second floor of the Wool Warehouse at the Willamette Heritage Center. It feels good to be back and I’ve already been working on my What’s Your Story project.
I’ll end by sharing a quote from my friend, Stephanie Brockway:
I love your alternative history exploration. This speaks to me so loudly, not everyone was important. Some lived quiet lives, with no heirs, lives boxed up, taken to the curbside and scattered to the wind. Taking the broken fragments, detritus, and ephemera is such an act of love and respect… conserving with a twist, the odd elements of the human condition never cease to amaze me, too. I’m hyperventilating about our next archaeological dig and what might be found and discovered.
This premier event is taking place this weekend and I am one of the lucky participating artists. I submitted three pieces of art, all loosely related to ecology and nature.
“Magnetic Attraction,” 18 x 18 inches, plaster, oil and cold wax, by Dayna J. Collins.
“The Smell of Salt Lingered in the Air,” 20 x 20 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna J. Collins.
“A Seasonal Echo,” 12 x 42 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax, by Dayna J. Collins.
Friday night was the opening reception, Party With the Artists. Every inch of the exhibition hall was packed with artists, art lovers, and collectors. There were delicious appetizers, drinks, and live music, and of course, lots of art filling the space.
I don’t know if any of my pieces have sold, I’ll find out later today, but fingers crossed that I won’t be bringing all three pieces back home.
“Everything Accounted For,” by Dayna J. Collins, created December, 2016.
Guardino Gallery is presenting the 11th Annual Day of the Dead Show September 28-October 22nd. I have participated in this invitational group show for more years than I remember and it is one of my favorites. I always create found object art and this year I’m excited to share three special pieces. The inspiration is the assemblage piece I created last December for an invitational show at the Salem Public Library. Everything Accounted For was created as a response to the book titled Spare Parts, about four Hispanic high school students who entered an underwater robot competition and created their robot using spare parts. After reading the book and thinking about all of my spare parts, I created my piece; it is now hanging in our living room.
For the 2017 Dead of the Dead show I decided to replicate my bigger piece and I created three smaller pieces modeled after my 2016 show piece.
“The Accumulation of Years,” by Dayna J. Collins.
“A Life’s History,” by Dayna J. Collins.
“A Maze of Memories,” by Dayna J. Collins.
When I created my DOTD pieces, I packed them full with a wild assortment of my favorite small bits.
I also created two other assemblage pieces for the Guardino Gallery show.
“The Emptiness of the House,” assemblage piece by Dayna J. Collins.
“Little Need of Conversation,” assemblage piece by Dayna J. Collins.
The opening reception for the show is Thursday, September 28th, 6-9 pm. And it ALWAYS a good party.
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.
