Art Workshops – Page 5 – Dayna J Collins

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.

Opportunities: To see art, buy art, take a class, tour studios

An opportunity to buy art

Emerald Pointe Christmas Bazaar

1125 McGee Court NE

Keizer, Oregon

Thursday, November 13, 2014

10:00 am-2:00 pm

I’ll have Funky Junkyard Birds, Curious Elements, cards, and plaster, oil, and cold wax paintings. I’ll also have a few sale items. (Note: This is where my mother lives. It is an independent senior living community and the Christmas Bazaar is open to the public.)

Artful Gift Show

Left Coast Artist Collective

Multnomah Art Center Gym

7688 S.W. Capitol Highway

Portland, Oregon

Friday, December 5, 2015: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm

Saturday, December 6, 2015: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

I’ll have Funky Junkyard Birds, Curious Elements, cards, and plaster, oil, and cold wax paintings.

Little Things 14

Guardino Gallery

2939 N.E. Alberta

Portland, Oregon

Show opens Thursday, November 27, 2014 and runs through December

I’ll have a grid of 6×6 inch plaster, oil, and cold wax paintings

An opportunity to tour the Art Studios at Mission Mill

Our very first Open Studios, on the second floor, and the grand opening of Compass Gallery on the first floor. Come see the art fort that Tory and I created: Studio F.

Willamette Heritage Center

1313 Mill Street S.E.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

5:00 – 7:00 pm

I’ll have a selection of Funky Junkyard Birds, Curious Elements, cards, and new paintings.

An opportunity to take a class

Oil and Cold Wax: Abstracted Play With a Punch of Texture

Art Studios at Mission Mill

January 16-18, 2015

Friday 1:00-5:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Limited to six participants

$300

For more information or to register, contact me: dayna@daynajcollins.com/curele

Opportunity to see a show

"Fairy Tales & Poetry" — “Fairy Tales & Poetry”

Group Dynamics

Salem Art Group

The Art Department

254 Commercial Street S.E.

Salem, Oregon

Opening reception is Wednesday, November 5, 2014

5:00-7:00 pm

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.

Scattered By the Wind: July Update

I have hardly had time to do an update on my Scattered By the Wind prayer flag project. In a nutshell, anyone can make a flag, which is then hung in downtown Salem at the Salem Art Association’s Project Space venue. Flags are for sale for $10 each, with proceeds going to art programming at Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility. For more information on all of this, please check out my previous posts.

May 27, my initial post about the project

June 15, an update on the project

June 24, the idea to sell the flags

All three of these posts were done before I was even set up in my area at the Project Space venue in downtown Salem. Since getting set up, I have hosted a First Wednesday, two community flag making days (four more to go), and received dozens of flags. That’s what this post is all about. Here is what it looked like as I was moving in the first of July.

Then the fun began. The public was invited to make flags in July during the First Wednesday art walk and reception.

Even the City of Salem mayor stopped by and was captivated by my project.

I’ve hosted two community flag days. Here’s a look at the first, where so many great flags were created (and sampling of a few flags).

Then, last Thursday, a second community flag-making day (and again, just a sampling of the flags that were created).

To see all of the flags and more photos as the project progresses, please visit my Facebook page: Scattered By the Wind. Flags can be purchased by getting in touch with me to make payment and pick up arrangements.

Oh, I almost forgot. The most recent statistics for the project. Here they are:

Flags sent or given out: 177

Flags received back: 59

Flags hanging: 114

Flags sold: 47

There is still time to make a flag! They aren’t due back until the end of August, so shoot me an e-mail if you would like to participate: dayna@daynajcollins.com/curele.

Trifecta of Classes. . . . and a bit of sightseeing, too

I recently returned from a ten-day road trip with my friend Tory Brokenshire. On the first leg of our trip, we were in Cleveland where Tory was teaching three classes at Small Studio. The classes were all found object assemblage classes with a big dose of sculpture. I’m good with the found object part, not so much with the sculpture, but I gave it my best effort.

Story Tellers

From a pile of junk and a flurry of arms and legs, I created Mr. Songbird.

Sail Away

Day two was titled Sail Away and involved sculpting an entire body AND making a little wire boat. Tory was a great and patient teacher and I managed to create a companion for Mr. Songbird, but her boat, well, it sunk.

Please meet Miss Pennington.

The good news is that Mr. Songbird and Miss Pennington hooked up at the end of the second day, although Mr. Songbird’s nose put out Miss Pennington’s right eye.

Santos

On our final day, we created a Santos. Fortunately, we only had to sculpt the head!

Then we got to dress our Santos, which was great fun.

The finished crew of Santos (mine is on the far right).

Post Script: After three days of classes, we spent a couple of days in Cleveland sightseeing, then we rented a car and drove to Chicago, where we spent a few more days.

During the ten days I was away, I spent an entire 30 minutes in my travel journal. A whole 30 minutes!

Dynamic Composition – Week Six

Week six was the final week in my on-line course taught by Jane Davies. The theme for our last lesson was creating depth and atmosphere. Jane covered transparency and opacity, and then more specific information on building an interesting composition. All of this requires the use of color, adding paint and removing it, shapes, depth, pattern, veiling, and lines. Since I’ve been on vacation the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working from the table in a condo using the supplies I could easily pack and transport, which means, I was just a tad limited (i.e., in our last lesson, we were to practice building layers using transparent paints, well, I hadn’t brought any transparent paints).

So, instead of following Jane’s instructions, I veered a bit to the left and took a sharp twist to the right. I used what I had learned over the past six weeks and applied those techniques along with my own body of knowledge to create a series of 4×6 pieces (going over some of the pieces I had created in earlier lessons). I enjoyed playing with collage, pattern, color, line, and shape – all things I use regularly in my art. I’ve added some new tools to my repertoire, and strengthened some techniques that were weak.

I totally and completely recommend taking a class from Jane – online or in person. She has another composition class beginning in January, Extreme Composition: Breaking All the Rules. You can bet I’ve already signed up for that one!

Dynamic Composition – Week Five

I’ve done my homework for lesson five of the Jane Davies class I’m taking, Dynamic Composition. Our lesson for this past week dealt with lines and shapes, with the addition of working in grids with lines, and of course, with collage. I lined up my papers along the floor to choose from.

I’ve been on vacation for the past week, so I’ve worked on this lesson from a hotel and from a condo. Here is where I worked on the first phase of the lesson, on a little desk in a hotel room.