Dayna J. Collins – Page 16

Scattered By the Wind: Prayer Flag Project

I was juried in as a participant of Salem Art Association’s Project Space and I’m excited to share what I’ve chosen to do. But first, a bit about Project Space and then details about my project.

The Project

Project Space is Salem Art Association’s dynamic, temporary and contemporary non-commercial art initiative, which offers artists a place for experimental art and interaction with the Salem community. Open June 3 to September 5, 2014, this year’s program will include openings on four First Wednesdays starting in June in addition to other receptions, performances and events.

My Project

I have long been intrigued by prayer flags and it is my intention to create a series of prayer flags, experimenting with various mediums and ideas, including repetition, painting, embellishments, words, themes, color, composition, and journaling. The tradition of Tibetan prayer flags dates back thousands of years. Traditional flags were stamped with prayers, mantras, and symbols then hung and left to flutter in the breeze, spreading wishes for happiness, long life, and prosperity.

Community Involvement

Along with my series of prayer flags, I’m inviting the community to join me in creating flags. This will be accomplished by invitation, requesting a flag, or by attending one of my open community days. Using fabric, paint, texture, images, and words, I will provide everything you need to create a prayer flag that will be strung with others to create strands of community flags that will be displayed at the Project Space venue on September 3. Community sessions will be held from 12-3 on the following dates:

Saturday, July 12

Tuesday, July 15

Thursday, July 24

Tuesday, August 5

Saturday, August 9

Thursday, August 14

All of these sessions will be held on the second floor of Liberty Plaza in downtown Salem.

Behind the Scenes

In preparation for creating all of these prayer flags, I had to cut and rip lots of fabric . . . . and I had to dig out my sewing machine and learn how to use it. Thank heavens it came with a DVD.

I became pretty proficient at sewing straight seams.

I have 131 flags all ready to be arted up.

Private Flags

In order to involve as many people as possible, I have put together personal prayer flag kits. The kit includes a piece of muslin cloth that can be embellished any way you want. There are no parameters, no limitations, nothing that is off limits. You can paint, use rubber stamps, write with felt pens, glue or sew on fabric scraps, add embellishments (buttons, ribbons, jewels . . . .). It is my hope that you will play and have fun creating a flag.

In the kit, I will include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for mailing your prayer flag back to me. I’ll need your flag no later than Friday, August 15, so I have time to string the flags together. Send me an e-mail if you would like to participate (dayna@alleyartstudio.com). I’ll be making a list of everyone who joins in, which I’ll have on display at the unveiling and reception on Wednesday, September 3.

RIP Dad

Last year, I had a show at Guardino Gallery in Portland. The title was Beneath the Surface: Searching For Memory and the show was inspired by my dad’s battle with Alzheimer’s. My dad lost that battle on Saturday night.

As I sat with my dad on Saturday, I reflected on what a great dad he had been. He was silly, generous, funny, out-going, and at times tender and sentimental. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2009, so he fought through the haze for five years. I thought in a tribute to him, I would post a few of the paintings I did for the show since their titles reflect what he was experiencing.

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

And finally, because it was one of his favorite songs:

Warren “Lefty” Davidson

May 24, 1931-May 17, 2014

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!

Beyond Words: RiverSea Gallery

I have long been a fan of RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, Oregon. Every time I visited Astoria I made sure to stop into this beautiful gallery. When I started painting several years ago, I barely allowed myself to dream that I might one day have my art hanging in RiverSea. Well, my dream came true. My paintings are now in RiverSea Gallery.

At the end of April, my friend Cynthia and I took a road trip to Astoria to drop off my art. I got to meet the gallery director, Jeannine, and she got to see my art in person.

Gallery director Jeannine gets acquainted with my art.

Jeannine selected twelve pieces to display in the gallery. Here’s a sampling of the pieces now at RiverSea.

"A Dark and Dreamless Oblivion" Plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel 8x8 inches — “A Dark and Dreamless Oblivion”
Plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel
8×8 inches

"Traveling Sideshow" Plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel 20x20 inches — “Traveling Sideshow”
Plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel
20×20 inches

"Tantalizing Threads of Gossip" Plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel with niche 24x24 inches — “Tantalizing Threads of Gossip”
Plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel with niche
24×24 inches

"A Smattering of Clues" Plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel 8x8 inches — “A Smattering of Clues”
Plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel
8×8 inches

"It Sounded Exotic" Plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel 8x8 inches — “It Sounded Exotic”
Plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel
8×8 inches

It was so nice to have my artist friend Cynthia along for the day, especially since we got to spend a beautiful, sunny day at the coast.

Studio Revamp

I have two studios. The upstairs one is my painting studio, the basement one is my assemblage studio (aka junk shop). We moved into our new house (it’s an old house, 1926 era, but new to us) about 16 months ago, which allowed me to close down my one-bedroom house studio and bring everything home. Even with two studios in our new house, it wasn’t easy to consolidate everything from an entire house and put it into two spaces.

In December of 2012 I packed, sorted, boxed, donated, and sold all sorts of studio items. The former studio was filled to the brim – every room was mine to fill as I pleased: kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, and a tacked on shed (and the back yard, too). It was a herculean task and I couldn’t have done it without the help of friends.

Then what was boxed, needed to be put away.

It was overwhelming, but two friends came to the rescue. Sam helped moved all the boxes and Tory helped put it away.

I’m a pretty organized person, so I put most of the assemblage bits in the basement, but I also put a lot of it upstairs in my painting studio. Over the past year I’ve worked on my Curious Elements and Funky Junkyard Birds in the basement, but I was constantly running upstairs to my painting studio to comb through the bits I had put up there. And then when I was painting in the upstairs studio, I was beginning to feel claustrophobic with all the junk surrounding me.Two weeks ago I realized it was time to reorganize and move the last of the little bits to the basement and clear out some of the clutter (but not the shelves that Tory lovingly filled with my fun treasures).

After a full day of moving stuff out of my painting studio, this is how it looked:

But, I had made a huge mess in the basement that had to wait until this week to remedy.

It took two days to get the basement space reorganized and tidied up. But it was worth it.

I love studio shots, so here are a few close-ups from the basement.

Now I need to go get to work.

It Takes Courage

It takes courage to cover up a completed painting, but it’s something I have learned to do. The question is why do I do it. In one instance, it was because of a technical problem: the black paint wasn’t drying and when I went to put on the final coat of cold wax, it began lifting the paint and the painting was ruined. That board was put into the pile of available boards for use in the future.

"Searching For His Lost Life," formerly a painting. — “Searching For His Lost Life,” formerly a painting.

Searching For His Lost Life became Where the Road Ends.

"Where the Road Ends, 24x24 plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel. — “Where the Road Ends, 24×24 plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel.

This piece made it into my Slightly Off Kilter show last year, but when the show came down, I realized I wasn’t in love with the painting, so once again, it went into the available boards pile. I recently completed yet another painting, Something More Was Required. Yes, something more was required and I think that painting has come full circle. With the initial layer of plaster and multiple layers of oil and cold wax, this 24×24 piece is getting pretty heavy. From Searching For His Lost Life, to Where the Road Ends, it is now Something More Was Required.

"Something More Was Required," 24x24 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel. — “Something More Was Required,” 24×24 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel.

Another recent transformation came when I took an 8×8-inch piece, To the Center of Silence, and transformed it into A Dark Curtain Against the Sky. I liked the original well enough, but it was a bit too yellow and wasn’t dynamic enough.

"To the Center of Silence," 8x8 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel. — “To the Center of Silence,” 8×8 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel.

"A Dark Curtain Against the Sky," 8x8 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel. — “A Dark Curtain Against the Sky,” 8×8 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel.

Then there was Beachcombing. I loved the little niche filled with treasures, but it read a bit too precious. And the colors were a bit jarring.

"Beachcombing," 24x24, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled board with niche. — “Beachcombing,” 24×24, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled board with niche.

So, I scrapped and dug out the found objects and sea shells, sanded the board, and transformed it into Things Still Remembered.I haven’t filled the niche yet as that takes a whole different level of creativity. What is tucked into a niche is very powerful.

"Things Still Remembered," 24x24, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel (with niche). — “Things Still Remembered,” 24×24, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel (with niche).

Finally, one more example. I did a couple of pages in my art journal, which I liked and thought would translate nicely into a painting.

So I loosely painted it onto a 30×30-inch cradled panel (after painting over another painting I had been working on for awhile – look at the big panel behind me in the first photo of this post – that’s what was on the board before I took the journal page and painted it onto the panel). It sat for a long time and I thought I liked it. In fact, it was ready to go to the gallery.

On the easel, thinking it was about complete.

But something was niggling at me, so I took it back into my studio and began revamping it. It became something entirely different.

And then I kept going.

And going.

Detail from a "Stoking a Small Steady Flame." — Detail from a “Stoking a Small Steady Flame.”

And going.

"Stoking a Small Steady Flame, 30x30 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel. — “Stoking a Small Steady Flame, 30×30 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel.

Stoking A Small Steady Flame was born and now hangs at Guardino Gallery in Portland.

Jane Davies Extravaganza

Last week I had the privilege of taking three consecutive classes at Art and Soul from Jane Davies (she did a blog post about the classes, which you can see by clicking here). I thought it would be fun to break the classes down, sharing a bit from each day. It was a great three days of art-making and although I didn’t finish any of the pieces, I have a lot of good beginnings and I learned so much.

Day 1 – Layering With Transparencies

Day 2 – Working in Series

My friend Katy and I took the class together.

Day 3 – Balancing Opposites: the Ying and Yang of Composition

Artist Serena Barton was in the class and it's always a treat to spend time with her. — Artist Serena Barton was in the class and it’s always a treat to spend time with her.

My new friend Karen. She lives in Portland very close to Guardino Gallery!

Art at the State Capitol

"Hideout" Oil and cold wax 16x20 — “Hideout”
Oil and cold wax
16×20

Just a nice leisurely walk from my house is the Oregon State Capitol. Today I leisurely walked to the capitol to see a piece of my art that is on display. I’m a member of Artists in Action, who put out a call for art to be on display the week of March 3rd – one week only. My art was accepted and is now hanging in the lobby of the capitol.

Tuna Can Reuse Challenge

I created a special Curious Element in response to a challenge put out by Salem’s DIY Creative Reuse Studio. Here’s the challenge:

Each month DIY Studio hosts a Reuse Challenge to encourage creatives to rethink and reimagine. February’s challenge must include a tuna can. Post your photos of your recreation by midnight Feb, 22 on our timeline. The participant who earned the most likes by midnight, Friday the 28th will win a bulk bag of reuse supplies at DIY! Game on!

Turns out, my little tuna can creation received the most likes!

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