Virtual Studio Tours -- Dayna J. Collins

Welcome to my creative space: Alley Art Studio!

1. What sort of artwork do you do and what are you currently working on?

I do a smattering of a lot of things. I love to paint and I do so in visual journals, with wax, and on canvases of all sizes. I love using texture with my paintings, including collage elements, but my favorite medium is using plaster, which can be stained, sanded, painted, carved into, and reworked again and again. I also work with metal and found objects, creating my Funky Junkyard Birds, which are made from recycled tins and metal bits. I have also developed Curious Elements, which are made from recycled wood that is textured and painted, and then I add crazy metal bits and pieces. Curious Elements satisfy my urge to use plaster, paint, and also gives me an excuse to go junking for found objects.

When I'm working on a batch of Curious Elements, I set up three big tables in the living room of the studio and create stations for the various processes involved in creating them.


I also love inviting friends over for visual journaling groups or special projects (like painting clown shoes), so the large tables are used in a different way.


My plan for the new year is to work big, so I've converted my living room into an area for working on large wood panels and canvases . This is a portion of a plaster piece I created last year.


2. How do you need your studio to function?

I need lots of space because I work on multiple projects at one time. I sometimes have the workbench in the kitchen covered with a new batch of boards to be plastered and painted, while a table in another room might be covered with metal bits and pieces to be used in various projects. A side counter is almost always reserved for one of my visual journals so I can easily add a collage element or get rid of leftover paint on my brush. Here's a few photos of my kitchen work space looking pretty darn neat and tidy!




I even funked up my bathroom, although the doll on the back of the toilet does freak some people out!


3. What do you love about your studio?

I love that I have an entire house! Formerly a little one-bedroom rental, about three years ago my husband suggested I take it over as my studio (I was sort of encroaching on our living space at home, also a small living space). So we painted every inch, added shelves and storage units, and converted the house into Alley Art Studio (a name developed when we used to live in a house on an alley). The best part of my studio? It’s on an alley and right across the street from a park.


(And it also have a pretty cool fenced in back yard where I do art in the summer).


4. What would you like to change about it?

I wish I had a bigger area to do large paintings – and a floor that I didn’t care about! Otherwise, it is perfect. When I'm wanting to work big, I just throw down a big painter's tarp. Here's the living room sans tarp and then with tarp and ready for some paint to get flung.



5. What would your dream studio contain?

I think I have my dream studio.


6. Do you have any organizational tips?

I’m a big organizer and I work best when I have a general idea of where things are. Probably the best tip is using glass jars to store bits and bobs – you can see what’s inside and they look pretty cool all lined up and stacked on a shelf (or shelves as the case may be). I also love using a metal crib mattress springs for displaying photos and odd objects. Here are some examples of my organization -- jars and cubbies in a hall, metal crib springs, and the back bedroom used for general storage.




You can see my art and follow my art wanderings at my blog:
Alley Art Studio

A couple of fun studio facts:

My studio was featured in Fall 2010 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Studios.

I was on the Artists in Action Studio Tour in September, 2011

I'll leave you with a few studio vignettes:

'Tis the Season

I've toned down my decorating over the years since the kids have left the house and we no longer gather at our home to celebrate Christmas (in fact, this is the year that my huge collection of Christmas ornaments are being divided among my three children). But I always decorate the mantle using white lights, red berries scattered in the bough, and a wonderful assortment of Margaret Furlong ornaments.


I put up a small tree in our upstairs living space, decorated simply with white lights, red berries, and 39 years of Wallace bells, a new one purchased every year.


Merry Christmas!

Featured Artist at Friends of the Library Store: Dayna Collins

In the heart of downtown Portland at the Multnomah County Central Library is a gem of a store run by the Friends of the Library and managed by Portland Art Collective member Lenall Siebenaler. The store offers used books, a variety of artful cards, and lots of handcrafted items.

Lenall invited me to be the featured artist for the month of September and my show is now up and ready for viewing. There are several of my Fearless Faces, six of my small mixed media pieces, and 14 different Fearless Faces cards available for purchase. Here's a few photos of the shop and my art. For more photos of the current show or to see more of my Fearless Faces or other art work, visit my blog at Alley Art Studio.

Salem Salon: Art Squared

I'm in a show at the Salem Art Association called Salem Salon: Art Squared. The show features the work of established and emerging artists living and working in Western Oregon and is an open-all media exhibit. The show is in the A.N. Bush Gallery and runs July 8-September 3. All of the work submitted had to be 16x16 inches, so the show is very striking in that all of the art is the same size. If you are out and about between now and September, be sure to stop in to the Salem Art Association gallery.








Submitted by Dayna J. Collins of Alley Art Studio.

Believe

I wrapped up a piece of art today that was commissioned by my sister about eight months ago. The piece, Believe, is limestone clay and acrylics on a wood substrate, a technique I learned from Pat Wheeler at the Oregon College of Art and Craft.

PAC Member in STUDIOS Magazine!

I wanted to share my good news! Alley Art Studio has been included in the fall issue of Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS magazine. Here I am seeing the article for the very first time.



If you're interested, I can be found on pages 82-85.