Visual Journals – Page 3 – Dayna J Collins

Tapestry: Collaging the Seasons

I recently had the pleasure to meet and take a class from Roxanne Evans Stout, an artist from Klamath Falls, and the curator of the blog, River Garden Studio. The class was held at The Art Department in downtown Salem. I hadn’t taken a class in a long time and since it was on the heels of my show opening at Guardino Gallery, I was primed and ready to let Roxanne take the reigns so I could just play.

After staring down the white, I jumped in.

Roxanne did demos and provided lots of materials for us to play and experiment with.

Of course, I brought some of my own personal treasures to use on my pages . . . .

We worked on four pieces at a time, front and back, meaning we created eight pieces of art during the day-long workshop. Not all of my pages are finished, but here is what I got completed during the day.

And now I can’t wait to see where I takes these pages for the next layer.

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…

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.

Mid Week Retreat at the Hop ‘n Bed

I’m a member of the Salem Art Group, a small closed group of six (soon to be seven) women. About twice a year we plan a mini retreat where we pack up food and art supplies (and a portable latte machine) and head out of town. Last week we landed outside of Independence, Oregon at the Rogue Brewery Hop ‘n Bed. The Hop ‘n Bed is a big old six bedroom farmhouse located along the Willamette River and smack dab in the middle of a working Rogue Brewery farm.

Come on in and I’ll show you my room: The Honey Bee.

Part of the check-in process included joining the Rogue Nation, which required a swearing in process of drinking a shot of beer and repeating a long oath of allegiance. Tory took the oath and drank her shot (and mine since I don’t drink anymore). PS Being a member gets you a hefty discount on the house.

As our group trickled in, we moved furniture and set up tables to accommodate our huge amount of art supplies. Joanna claimed the living room to set up her sewing machine, Kathy took over the laundry room for her encaustics (there was a back door for ventilation), and the rest of us jockeyed for space in the living room: Tory with her clay, Nancy and Katy with their oil and cold wax, and me, kind of in the kitchen prep area, with my oil and cold wax AND acrylics for my visual art journal.

After getting settled, I took a walk around the grounds.

It was time to spread some paint. Working in oil and cold wax does not bring immediate gratification the way working with acrylics does, so I brought both mediums. I started with the oil and cold wax, knowing I wouldn’t finish any pieces, but I would sure have the opportunity to add layers, scrape back, and add more layers over the three days. None of these pieces are finished, and some haven’t even been scraped back, but it gives you an idea of what I worked on.

Another day, another walk.

When I wasn’t working in oil and cold wax, I was playing in a brand spankin’ new visual art journal. But before I started laying down paint, I did a double take with the cover I had created several years ago. It was time to cover the cover!

Okay, that’s better. Now I can begin on the inside.

I worked on a lot of pages.

And before we knew it, it was time to head home.

New Year, New Intentions

I love the symbolism of beginning a new year. I know it is just a turn of the calendar page, but it is filled with so much hope and promise for the new year. I had a good 2013, so it isn’t that I’m anxious to be done with last year, I just love the idea of a fresh beginning. January is always a time for me to ponder and consider what I want in the new year. I like goals/resolutions/intentions, whatever one wants to call them. For me, I choose the word intentions because it is somewhat fluid. Also, the idea of an intention means I’m aware and awake to what I am choosing to do – whatever the activity.

I’ve chosen my word for the year, a practice I’ve done for several years and one that I enjoy as it reminds me to pay attention to that particular wish. My word for 2014 is intention. I’ll be paying attention to my intentions. I’ve made a list of intentions and I’ll share them here. I don’t have anything that requires a daily activity or any particular time frame because for me, that sets me up for failure right from the start. But whatever I choose to do in a particular day, I hope to have awareness of my intention for doing it. Here goes.

Continued dedication to good health, from what I eat to how I move. I know my weaknesses, so I’ll pay attention to when those urges occur and how I handle them. Sometimes I’ll give in and have that piece of dark chocolate, but just not the whole bag of chocolately goodness (I can’t even have that kind of stuff in the house). Pure and simple foods, walks, and targeted supplements are all part of my routine and have been for a long time. This intention is just a recommitment to what I’m already doing.

Since discovering art (okay, and Facebook), my appetite for reading has diminished. I read art magazines and look at art books, but my reading of memoirs and fiction has declined. When we were on vacation recently, I read three or four books and I was reminded how much I enjoy this activity. But to do this, I need to give up something else or at least make reading a priority.

Which leads to screens. Oh, how I love screen time, whether it is a movie, TV, or catching up with my friends on Facebook. I don’t plan to give any of these up, but I have begun to pay attention to how much time I spend sitting in front of a screen and with attention, comes awareness; I’ve begun to make little shifts in how much time I spend sitting at my computer or watching TV. At night instead of opening my iPad to catch up on Facebook, I open my book and at least read a section – then I look at Facebook. A small shift, but it’s amazing how much I’ve read in just a few days time.

I have an idea for a new show. I’m excited about the theme and I’ve been doing research, jotting down ideas, taking notes, and gathering images. I cancelled a July show in order to focus completely on this NEXT BIG IDEA. I don’t want to divulge more than this right now, but you know I will when the time is right.

Another area where I hope to direct some intention is with big, experimental paintings. My painting studio space is limited, but if a downtown studio space comes to fruition (my deposit has been placed), I’ll have the opportunity to play with this dream. If not, I’ll have to figure out how to work big in a small space. It can be done.

I’ve been called back to my Visual Journal. I haven’t done much playing/painting/experimenting/writing in it for over a year. I am almost at the end of a journal I made so I had to decide whether to start a brand new blank journal for 2014, or complete the old one. I decided to pick up where I left off and just continue. I don’t have plans to journal every day, but I do have plans to leave my journal out and when I’m in my studio or passing through or when I get the urge to make a mark, it will be easy to add a dab of paint, glue in an image, write a quote.

“Just what is meant by ‘your word?’ It means
your conscious intention, your conscious
direction, your conscious faith and acceptance
that, because of what you are doing, the
Power of Spirit will flow through your word
in the direction you give It.” Ernest Holmes

“A good intention is like the seed of
a tree whose fruit we do not know.” Lloyd Strom

“Choose your intention carefully and then
practice holding your consciousness to it,
so it becomes the guiding light in your life.” John Roger

“Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming … WOW! What a ride!” Unknown

Searching For Memory

I’ve written this blog post in my head a dozen times over the past couple of days. I’ve titled it (“They Call Me Lefty”), re-titled it (“Brokenhearted”), and settled on something entirely different. I’ve started the post with the events of the past week, then decided to begin with my show at Guardino Gallery last March because that show was inspired by him. Now that I am actually writing this post, I’ve decided to begin somewhere else entirely.

Note: This is a bit more of a personal post than my usual art post, although art is included, it is about my dad’s battle with Alzheimer’s.

My mom and dad soon after moving into a retirement facility at the beginning of the year.

My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2009, and as expected, he has slowly dissolved into the disease. It’s been a painful progression of lost and scrambled words, memory loss, and unfortunately, flares of anger. A couple of years ago when my dad was earlier in his disease, I made a small visual journal as a way to acknowledge the beginning of his long journey home.

Last March I had the privilege of a solo show at Guardino Gallery in Portland. The title, Beneath the Surface: Searching For Memory, was dedicated to my dad and chronicled his fading memory. The pieces were titled to reflect his mental decline. Here are a couple of photos of my dad looking at the old black and white family photos I had scattered in the window display and a few pieces of the art I created for the show.

Creating Memories That Won't Be Remembered — Creating Memories That Won’t Be Remembered

Over the past six months my dad has significantly declined. He lost his driver’s license and my parents moved into a retirement community. I took my dad for drives during the summer and he always smiled and laughed during our country drives or stops for frozen yogurt.

A week ago, everything changed. My dad’s outbursts of rage escalated to the point that my mom became fearful. An event occurred that required that my family intervene. We had a family meeting with my mom and told her it was time we put dad in a memory care unit – it was the only way we could guarantee her safety. She agreed and made arrangements at the retirement community where they lived. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t have a bed in the memory care available for about 30 days. The retirement facility put an emergency alarm bracelet on my mom and said they could do some respite care with my dad – a few hours at a time in the memory care unit. She made arrangements on Friday to give it a try. That’s when it all fell apart. 9-1-1 was called, the police came, an ambulance arrived and my dad was taken to the emergency room. While there, my dad decided he had waited long enough. He unhooked his monitors, got up, put on his shoes, and started to leave. It took four security guards, two nurses, and a tech to put him back in the bed, this time with restraints. During this time, the hospital’s social services located a bed for my dad in a memory care unit across the river where my dad could stay until a bed opens up where my mom lives. On Friday night I rode in the medical transport with my dad as he was taken to memory care. He was silent the whole way. He was reluctant to go in, but he finally did. He pleaded in garbled and disconnected words to go home. I had to say good-bye and leave him. My heart broke. I hate this disease.