We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dayna Collins. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dayna below.
Dayna, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
My art and life have been an evolution of color and represent a rise out of darkness. Twenty-five years ago, after entering recovery for addiction, I discovered I was an artist while taking a 12-week course on creative recovery. My first art was collage – on bowling pins. A whole new world opened for me, and I knew I wanted to paint, explore texture, and experiment with putting bold, vibrant colors together. Initially, I didn’t know how or where to start.
In those early years of my recovery, I took dozens of classes and workshops and attended several art retreats. I experimented, narrowing my focus on painting and collage, wondering when I would “find my voice.” I learned that there was no shortcut, I just had to do the work. A couple of classes and influential instructors helped me as I moved forward. The first came in 2010 with a five-day workshop in Portland working with plaster (joint compound) led by Pat Wheeler, an artist living off the coast of Maine. She taught the technique of spreading mud across the surface of our boards, then sanding and staining the plaster with watered down acrylic paints. She also taught me about passion in our work, incorporating language, imagery, and texture. I took her class for five years, just to be in the presence of this amazing artist and teacher.
The other influential moment in my art career came in 2012 when I took a class in oil and cold wax at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology (on the Oregon Coast) from Alan Cox. I immediately fell in love with the creamy texture of cold wax, it was like painting with whipped butter. We used putty and palette knives, applying the cold wax mixed with oil paint onto the surface of our wood panels. During the weeklong class, I was staying in a rustic cabin across the road and had brought a bucket of joint compound for a project I was working on at night. I decided to apply a layer of plaster on one of my boards and took it to class the next day. My boards had an uneven irregular texture to them and when I applied the oil paint mixed with cold wax, the mixture seeped into the crevices, adding another layer and even more interest. From then on, I have worked in plaster, oil, and cold wax. I found my voice.
I don’t think I could have sped up anything other than devoting more time to experimenting and playing with materials. The essential skills for me were having an instructor that not only taught techniques but also encouraged taking risks and not worrying about the finished painting too early in the process. Both classes and the materials being used were perfect for me and have led me to my love of layers and the surprises that come from working in this way.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Twenty-five years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and told my husband I needed help. By the next afternoon, I had checked into a residential treatment facility for drug and alcohol addiction. This is where my story begins.
I completed the month-long program, telling my friends that everyone should have the opportunity to go through treatment. I returned home with fresh eyes, on the “pink cloud” that people reference who are new in recovery. I was so enamored with the experience, that I became a drug and alcohol counselor. About five years into my recovery, I was looking for something more and discovered it in Julia Cameron’s book about creative recovery, “The Artist’s Way.” To keep me focused, I joined a 12-week Creative Cluster where women gathered to discuss Julia’s book and share how we were doing with writing daily journal entries, and what we did for our weekly “Artist Date.” But what I had not anticipated was our facilitator giving us a weekly art project: blind contour drawing, sketching with oil pastels, painting to music with our eyes closed . . . . I was smitten and overtaken with a visceral response to the art. It opened my eyes to the possibility of being an artist, and I began taking any and every art class I could find.
Jump forward a couple of years and I decided to offer my own version of Creative Clusters, gathering people together to discuss Julia Cameron’s book and do an art project. I was still working as a drug and alcohol counselor, so I had gained skills about running a group, and my love of all things art helped me prepare for a weekly art project.
I offered classes on “The Artist’s Way” twice a year and began offering some simple one-day art classes: assemblage classes using found objects, basic collage, and visual journaling. As early as 2006 I offered “Living a Creative Life,” which became my ongoing theme through the years. I continued taking classes and workshops, honing my skills as a painter and nurturing a growing interest in living a creative life.
My teaching workshops have become more focused, and I have taught at several venues across the Pacific Northwest and in Southern California. Most of my classes involve plaster, oil and cold wax, and various forms of collage. I love teaching and I’m repeatedly told that my passion shines through, which is a huge compliment. I love creating a safe place for making art; I begin each day with an inspirational reading from a book on creativity, do a check in with students with how they are feeling, and then begin with a demo. I’m a hands-on teacher – not hands on a student’s art, but hands on that I roam around the room making myself available for each student at least twice a day. There is humor, laughter, and lots of hard work, but throughout the day, everyone is reminded that there are no mistakes, and my mantra is “it’s just a layer.”
The classes that also excite me are my classes on building and creating a regular creative practice. As my art life has matured, so has my belief that art and life are deeply intertwined and it is impossible to separate the two. My life is my art. My red hair is part of my brand, as are the colorful, crazy clothes that I wear, the color and art that fill our home, and the art scattered around our yard. People call our house the “art house.” It is all a reflection of how I spend my time and energy and desire to share art with the world.
My newest class is titled “Building Creative Muscles.” My syllabus covers such topics as the books I read for inspiration, being a collector of quotes, maintaining a visual journal for recording ideas and jotting notes, building daily rituals such as writing, reading, and meditating. I also introduce diverse art materials for experimenting in our visual journals. We do activities such as blind contour drawing, making a simple three-piece collage, or perhaps using three colors of paint to create a simple swath painting. The goal of this class is to get out of our need for perfection, to develop creative confidence, discover one or two small things we can go home and incorporate into our life, and find ways to live a more creative life whether our goal is to be an artist or not.
I am an artist. I teach art in person and online, I show my work at galleries, I sell my art. And I love being a creative guide for others, to encourage them to be bold, take risks, to build creative rituals and a daily practice that encourages living a vibrant and radiant life. Small daily acts become the basis for living a big, beautiful life.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I have several goals that guide my journey as an artist and creative motivator.” These are my primary goals:
Be authentic. This happens with what and how I choose to share content in my teaching and with social media posts. I often paint with curlers in my hair, so I post photos of me working with curlers. At the end of a painting session, I look in a mirror and snap a photo of myself with a paint-smudged face and post that. I share demos of when it feels like I’ve messed up a painting, illustrating how it is just a layer and something better is coming by my boldness in covering up the earlier layers.
Be generous with information. If people write me and ask a question about a particular process or something I have shared, I respond with the information they want. It doesn’t matter if they haven’t taken a class with me or purchased a painting, I can still be generous. People are often blown away when I share handouts or detail a process.
Give glimpses into my life. Because my art and life are intertwined, I like sharing projects outside of my studio. I recently finished a large bowling ball pyramid in my back yard, so I posted about the process, i.e., the size, how many bowling balls, etc. It made for a great post and people might be inspired to build one for themselves. (And they know that if you build a pyramid that is six bowling balls x six bowling balls, it takes 91 balls!)
Share daily practices. I have a long-standing daily ritual in the morning that I frequently share. Sometimes it is a photo of where I sit in the morning, sometimes it is a photo of my cat or my latte or a stack of books I’m reading (usually photos include all these things). This peek into my morning life illustrates that I am actively engaged in a morning ritual that nourishes and sustains me in my art practice as well as in my life.
Cultivate a time-specific art project. I have done year-long daily projects, I have also done 30 or 90-day projects. Whatever the length, the goal is to get into the studio to do something. Often when I go in for a few minutes, it becomes a few hours. It is also an excellent way to practice with a particular medium or work out how to paint in a particular style, pushing myself to do it a little bit differently each day.
Seek help when you need it. A few years ago, my husband noticed I was spending a large part of my time doing the administrative side of art. Although I am an organized person by nature, he could see I was struggling. He became my “back office” person, taking over inventory control, gallery contacts, consignment reports, etc. He assists in the studio by wiring my art, sanding the backs of my boards, and delivering and picking up art. The releasing of my time from these tasks has allowed me to focus on art, teaching, and promoting my art on social media.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
One of the handouts I use in teaching is a list titled, “What I Know Now.” While most things focus on making art, many of these reminders pertain to how I live in the world.
Go to the studio. Work on something little, if necessary, but go often.
Learn to be discerning. What is a yes and what is a no.
Be aware of what brings you alive.
Live in possibilities.
Create authentic art.
Trust your intuition.
Embrace where you are in your art.
Cultivate a sense of beginner’s mind.
Take risks and BIG steps.
Minimize external forces (what others think) and cultivate internal forces (what is important to you).
Create conversations within your art.
Be aware of what time of day you have the best energy.
Notice what things you enjoy in your process.
Be aware of how your eye moves around your painting.
Always have a slop board nearby to get rid of excess paint – beautiful layers are built over time.
There are no shortcuts for layers; layers create complexity and interest.
Give yourself time to percolate new ideas.
JUST START. BE BOLD. AND MOST OF ALL PAY ATTENTION!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.daynacollinsart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daynalovesart/
- Other: Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/daynalovesart/
