Dayna J Collins – Page 18

A New Art Gallery in Salem

I have exciting news to share. There is a new art gallery in Salem and I’m one of the five founding artists. The gallery, located at the Willamette Heritage Center, borders downtown and is across the street from the Amtrak Station and Willamette University. A recent press release gives all of the pertinent information:

After a successful year at the Willamette Heritage Center (formerly Mission Mill Museum), Compass Gallery celebrates its first anniversary with a transition to a cooperative gallery under the auspices of the Art Studios at Mission Mill. The gallery will represent five artists who are members of the Art Studios: Dayna Collins, Bonnie Hull, Leonard Kelly, Kathy Shen and Rollie Wisbrock. The artists will curate monthly rotating exhibitions of their artwork in the gallery space. The first group exhibition opened to the public on October 1 and an opening reception is planned for Thursday, October 8 from 3:00-5:00 pm in the gallery. This event is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. The exhibition will be on view through November 4.

On Thursday, four of us gathered to hang our first show.

For our first exhibit I created a new framed series of plaster, oil, and cold wax pieces.

"The Whisper of Truth," 8x8 framed to 12x12, plaster, oil, and cold wax. — “The Whisper of Truth,” 8×8 framed to 12×12, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

"A Quiet Confidence," 8x8 framed to 12x12, plaster, oil, and cold wax. — “A Quiet Confidence,” 8×8 framed to 12×12, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

"A Light Wind Pushed at the Lace Curtains," 8x8 framed to 12x12, plaster, oil, and cold wax. — “A Light Wind Pushed at the Lace Curtains,” 8×8 framed to 12×12, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

"All Suffering Erased," 8x8 framed to 12x12, plaster, oil, and cold wax. — “All Suffering Erased,” 8×8 framed to 12×12, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

"Forgetting is the Only Way Back," 8x8 framed to 12x12, plaster, oil, and cold wax. — “Forgetting is the Only Way Back,” 8×8 framed to 12×12, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

"The Return of Memory," 8x8 framed to 12x12, plaster, oil, and cold wax. — “The Return of Memory,” 8×8 framed to 12×12, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

"Beyond the Reach of Reality," 8x8 framed to 12x12, plaster, oil, and cold wax. — “Beyond the Reach of Reality,” 8×8 framed to 12×12, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

We are still figuring out shows and what direction we want to take the gallery, but we are going to let it evolve and morph over the next few months of experimentation.

Affordable Art For Everyone

Affordable Art for Everyone is a special buying event where more than 60 artists offer high-quality work for under $100. I am excited to share that I was invited to participate. Here is the information from their website:

The juried fine art and fine crafts will include paintings, ceramics, glass, jewelry, wood, metalwork and photography. This is a unique opportunity to purchase quality art at outstanding prices. Frame Central will be onsite with custom and ready made framing options.

This sale will be held at NW Events in Hillsboro, Oregon, a spacious facility conveniently located off of Highway 26 at 2900 NW 229th Ave Hillsboro, OR 97124. The site is fully accessible and has restrooms and ample free parking. Admission is free!

To add even more fun to the day and showcase all kinds of artistry, the Affordable Art show will offer activities for the whole family, such as our Performing Arts Showcase. The Showcase will feature short performances on stage all day by stellar local acts including The Hillsboro Community Youth Choir and NW Dance Conservatory. Display tables in our Performing Arts Marketplace will offer visitors an opportunity to connect and check out what’s coming up in our region’s vibrant performing arts scene.

Family Activities on tap all day from Village Home Education Resource Center, Swallowtail School, Hillsboro Library, and the Artosaur. For food, there are simple snacks and water available for purchase in the kids’ activity room. In addition there will be food trucks in the front parking lot.

So what am I bringing? I am bringing several oil and cold wax pieces, ranging from 6×6 to 6×24 inches. To give you an idea of my pricing, my 6×6 inch $80 pieces will be $60, my 8×8 inch $150 pieces will be $75, my 11×14 inch $190 pieces will be $80, and my 6×24 inch $200 pieces will be $95.

I will be bringing a batch of my Curious Elements, some old and some new. They are regularly $15-$85 and I will have them priced at $5-$60.

A sampling of brand new pieces:

I am clearing out my last four Funky Junkyard Birds. They sell for $50 and I’ve marked them down to $20-$30.

I only have three of my Fearless Faces reproductions left, and instead of the original price of $80, I will be selling them for $20 each (they are about 16×20 inches).

I have four new framed acrylic and mixed media pieces. These will be $75-$90 each.

I have four tins of my Slightly Off Kilter Blocks, originally $45 a set, now $15 a set. These are oil and cold wax on wood blocks.

I have several prints of “Spotted With Crimson,” and I will be selling them for half price.

Finally, I’m bringing lots of greeting cards. Some are reproductions glued onto heavy duty, beautiful watercolor paper, and others are original pieces of art. All of them will be marked down from their original price.

9th Annual Day of the Dead Show at Guardino Gallery

One of my favorite shows every year is Guardino Gallery’s Day of the Dead Celebraton, curated by Donna Guardino and my friend Stephanie Brockway. The show opened last night with a vibrant party and reception. There was live music, glowing altars, and face painting. A peek in the window. . . .

And a little look inside.

I submitted seven pieces of art, and by the time I left last night, three had little red dots!

The show runs through October 25th and the walls and window are filled with creative, off beat, imaginative art. Guardino Gallery is located at 2939 NE Alberta in Portland.

Out of the Box and Over the Top

Lunaria Gallery in Silverton is celebrating their 20 year anniversary and as part of their celebration they are inviting former gallery members to participate in themed shows. I, along with Tory Brokenshire and Frank Lord, were invited to participate in their August show, Out of the Box and Over the Top. I wonder why they invited us to participate in this particular show (ha!).

The show is beautifully curated and is worth the trip to Silverton, but hurry, the show comes down on Monday, August 31st.

Tory and I were unable to attend the opening reception, but we made the short trip to Silverton last week to see the show for ourselves. We had both sold work, so there were a few holes, but it is always exciting to see red dots (or blank walls!). These are the two that have sold:

Abstracted Play: Creating With Plaster, Oil, and Cold Wax

I’m just home from teaching a three-day workshop in Portland at Stacey Mattraw’s imaginative, magical studio, Arcangelo Productions, in North Portland.

Our three-day workshop actually started on Thursday evening when Stacey hosted a get together so everyone could meet and get their painting supplies set up.

Friday morning, we began our three-day marathon. We spent most of Friday preparing our boards, adding paint, plaster, and more paint, so that when we started to layer oil and cold wax, we would already have a nice layer of texture to respond to.

By the end of the first day we were already applying layers of oil and cold wax.

On Day Two it was oil and cold wax ALL DAY LONG.

Of course, breaks were taken.

On Day Three we gave each other feedback on some of the art in progress, painted, then ended the day with a walkabout.

And then we collapsed!

It was a great group of artists, so full of enthusiasm, energy, and talent — and they all worked so hard. Most of the ladies had traveled quite a distance to attend: Bellingham, the San Juan Islands, Alaska, California, as well as Portland and Silverton.

A sampling of their beautiful work . . . .

Wabi-Sabi Painting With Cold Wax

Serena Barton has a new book out, Wabi-Sabi Painting With Cold Wax, and not only is it a fantastic and beautiful book, but I’m happy to share that I am one of 12 guest artists.

I don’t want to give too much away, but if you’re interested in learning more about oil and cold wax, or if you want to get started in this medium, Serena’s book offers lots of techniques, detailed instructions, and beautiful color photographs.

The art I chose to be included in the book is Seeking Refuge, a piece I created for my 2013 Beneath the Surface show at Guardino Gallery. The piece sold during the show, but it remains one of my favorites.

Studio Shuffle

Last fall, my good friend Tory and I were invited to join a newly forming studio group at the Willamette Heritage Center. We were thrilled to be part of what became The Art Studios at Mission Mill. We leased Studio F and had great fun making it our own.

What I discovered over these past nine months is that I can’t work in a small space and when I’m painting, for the most part, I need solitude. So when two studios opened up in June, Tory and I both put our names in, hoping that one of us would get one of the two studios. Bingo. Tory’s name was drawn for Studio B.

Tory moved her stuff out and I helped her paint her new space (a mere 10 steps from Studio F). I purchased a new work table and a funky chair, then spent an afternoon rearranging Studio F to function as my axillary painting studio.

I ordered signage for my two doors and installed it this week.

Our next Open Studio is Thursday, July 9, 2015, from 5-7 pm. If you ‘re around, please stop by and see our new studios.

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.

EVOKE: The Opening Reception

My show opened Thursday night at Guardino Gallery in NE Portland. It was a hot night, but that didn’t keep people away. There was a steady stream of friends and art lovers. No need for words, I’ll just share a series of photos from the evening.

EVOKE: The Hanging of the Show

As many of you know, I’ve been working on pieces of art for my upcoming show at Guardino Gallery on NE Alberta in Portland. I started work last October and finished the final piece last Monday. Wednesday was hanging day. My good friend Tory Brokenshire drove her van and helped with the hanging.

We arrived at 11:00 am and unloaded 31 pieces of art into the empty, white-walled Main Gallery. Donna is a master curator and directed us to take pieces here and there, auditioning the possibilities.

And then it was time to hang. Tory and Meg took over.

For the most part, they did an excellent job.

I acted as their assistant, handing them drills, tape measures, and screws, occasionally offering suggestions.

The 3-D artist, who is also in the Main Gallery with me, Tamae Frame, was able to place her beautiful sculptures once my paintings were hung. What a beautiful pairing.

I’m so grateful to Donna for the opportunity to have the show and to Tory for helping to get it hung.