UPCOMING
SHOWS
Stairwell Show: Oil and Cold Wax Paintings
Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
Oregon Coast at Cascade Head
May thru 2025
100 X 100 Exhibition — Group Show
“One hundred pieces of art for $100 each”
Salem on the Edge, Salem, OR.
November 28 - December 23, 2025
Opening reception December 5, 2025, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Classes taught by Dayna Collins:
ONLINE CLASSES WITH DAYNA
Abstracted Play in Oil and Cold Wax
Tuesdays, January 6, 13, 20, 27, 2026
Live Zoom 10:00 am – 12:30 pm PST
Registration is through Winslow Art Center
Let’s kick off the new year with a four-week class of jumping into the deep end of color and the rich luminosity of oil paint mixed with cold wax. We will apply paint with squeegees and putty knives (it's like painting with whipped butter). We will experiment with paint, building texture, scraping earlier layers, and then doing it all again. Let's pump up the color and make bold, startling marks to create surprise and cause a gasp of delight. We will enhance our paintings by making more lines and marks than usual, taking our lines for a leisurely walk through the paint. We'll work intuitively and energetically on multiple pieces, exploring texture, layers, composition, and design with an emphasis on color.
You will be challenged to exaggerate your lines and marks, create patterns and texture across the surface of the substrates, and use colors that are outside your usual palette. We will play and experiment, staying loose and free as we apply paint intuitively and energetically. No current online classes are scheduled.
Taking a Line for a Walk
Tuesdays, February 10 & 17, 2026
Live Zoom 10:00 am – 12:00 pm PST
Registration is through Winslow Art Center
Join me for two weeks of playing with paint and drawing lines into and on top of our abstract painted surfaces. Using 8x8-inch squares of watercolor paper as our substrate, we will paint a series of abstracted landscapes or just loose and free abstracts using acrylic paint. We will then go into our paintings and draw a variety of lines: thick, thin, straight, stuttery, arching, and curvy using various mixed media materials (crayons, pens, markers . . . . .). We will work fast, we will work slow, we might even close our eyes and let ourselves get lost in our lines. Color is the name of the game but so is pushing ourselves to move beyond our first impulse, making lines and marks that are both familiar and unfamiliar. By the end of this class, you will have a series of delightful small paintings ready for an 8x8-inch frame.
A dot is a line that went for a walk.
Paul Klee
Curious Untamed Blooms in Oil and Cold Wax
Tuesdays, March 3, 10, 17, & 24, 2026
Live Zoom 10:00 am – 12:30 pm PST
Registration is through Winslow Art Center
Curious Untamed Blooms is a jump into the deep end of vibrant color and wild marks, celebrating the curious beauty of flowers – but with a twist. What if we pump up the color, manipulate the shape, create absurdly long stems, or sprinkle the blooms with dots and stripes. How do we decide the best shape of the vase? And what about that beautiful negative space that develops around the vase and our crazy blooms.
We will work in multiple layers of cold wax mixed with oil paint. Cold wax is a versatile medium that creates rich luminosity, interesting surfaces, and speeds up drying time. We will apply the mixture with squeegees, shapers, brushes, putty and palette knives, and a variety of mark-making tools to draw and dig into the paint. Our emphasis will be on painting vibrant and colorful bouquets of wonky flowers, single blooms, and wild meadows of color, using our imaginations (and reference photos if desired). We will work intuitively and energetically on multiple pieces, exploring texture, layers, composition, design, and the use of color.
We will create flowers that are delicate and bold, tender yet strong, humorous, imaginative, and inspirational.
IN PERSON CLASSES WITH DAYNA
Building Creative Muscles: Kick-Starting 2026
Art Department, Salem, OR
Saturday, January 10, 2026
11:30 am – 5:30 pm
Registration through Art Department
Let’s jumpstart the new year by setting some creative intentions. What does it look like to live a creative life? What if we don’t know what we want to do or how to get started? How do we maintain a sustained art practice when so many interruptions intrude on our time?
Join Dayna for a full day of creative exercises and discussions about how to sustain a creative life by doing a few small things a day. Dayna will provide a resource guide for books to read (and she is continually adding new titles), how to incorporate inspiring quotes into your art practice, and how to choose a word for the year. Using her own life as an example, she will share about her reading and writing practice, how she chooses which books to read, and ways she has engaged in daily art challenges to keep her art practice active and alive. Dayna will be sharing examples from her 2025 Daily Project with the goal of inspiring you to come up with your own project, whether it is a two-week project, a 30-day project, or perhaps something small each day for an entire year. We won’t do any of this perfectly, so she’ll also be talking about procrastination, perfection, jealousy and comparison.
You will leave with fresh ideas, the beginnings of a visual journal for recording quotes, a place to practice sketching and painting exercises, experimenting with quick collages, and making lists of ideas to explore once you are home.
Taking a Line for a Walk
Art Department, Salem, OR.
Saturday, January 31, 2026
Registration through Art Department
Join me for a day of playing with paint and drawing lines into and on top of our abstract painted surfaces. Using 8x8 inch squares of watercolor paper as our substrate, we will paint a series of abstracted landscapes or just loose and free abstracts using acrylic paint. We will draw a variety of lines: thick, thin, straight, stuttery, arching, and curvy using various mixed media materials (crayons, pens, markers ….). We will work fast, we will work slow, we might even close our eyes and let ourselves get lost in our lines. Color is the name of the game but so is pushing ourselves to move beyond our first impulse, making lines and marks that are both familiar and unfamiliar. By the end of the day, you will have a series of delightful small paintings ready for an 8x8 inch frame.
Fearless Faces
Art Department, Salem, OR
Saturday, February 7, 2026
11:30 am – 5:30 pm
Registration through Art Department
Dayna’s idea for Fearless Faces started in 2011 when she was discovering her artist voice. With no formal art training, but several years of taking art classes and a strong sense of curiosity and a bold spirit of exploration, she began painting a series of crazy, colorful faces. Fast forward to 2026 and after a month-long residency at the Salem Art Association in September of 2025, Dayna is offering a full day of drawing and painting faces with an emphasis on loose and free, not realistic and precise. No previous experience required!
Using prompts, warm-ups, and lots of art materials, Dayna will guide everyone through loose drawing and painting to create Fearless Faces. This workshop will be a fast-paced, lively day of artmaking, with a focus on color, abstraction, and pushing limits.
We will be working exclusively on 8x8 inch watercolor paper.
Deep Dive into Collage
Newport Paper and Book Arts Festival
Newport, Oregon
Thursday & Friday, April 23-24, 2026
Limited to ten students
Registration will be posted sometime in 2026
Let’s take a deep dive into collage during this two-day workshop. Our first day will focus on dismantling old worn-out hardback books to scavenge for materials: book linen, interesting spines with gauze and gluey bits, not to mention fun illustrations and fancy text. We will also be ripping apart old paperbacks (the older the better) and altering the covers with sandpaper and cutting out blocks of text. We will spend the afternoon creating collages using our stacks and piles of book parts.
On the second day, students will continue to work with book scraps, along with ephemera, collage materials, and embellishments you bring as well as what Dayna provides.
At the end of two days, you will leave with several completed collages on both book boards and on 5x7 pieces of mat board. During our workshop, we will discuss collecting materials; composition and design elements; the importance of color and value; explore a variety of techniques, and how to display completed collages. There will be demos with plenty of time for hands on experimentation. An abundance of materials will be provided, along with tools and supplies to share.
Courting the Muse: Intuitive Creativity Retreat 2026
Glenda Goodrich and Dayna Collins, co-facilitators
Registration through GG
Tipi Village Retreats (Marcola, Oregon, northeast of Springfield, OR)
June 11 – 15, 2026
Imagine spending four days nestled in the sanctuary of a rich green forest next to a babbling brook, sleeping in a cozy bed, being pampered with gourmet food, playing with paint and collage, and renewing that spontaneous, juicy, creative, soulful part of yourself. It’s all yours to enjoy in a community of kindred spirits.
GG and her co-facilitator Dayna will be your midwives clearing the way for you to step out of what you think is true about your creative self, and step into an environment where you feel free to birth whatever wants to be expressed.
Through a series of experimental exercises with paint, paper, and written and spoken words, you will explore a variety of techniques designed to bypass creative blocks and connect deeply with your personal serendipitous muse. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or just starting to explore your creative potential, this workshop offers a supportive environment where you can freely experiment, awaken the subconscious, discover new creative pathways, build creative muscle, and develop a more profound connection with your mysterious and creative Self.
The Tipi Village Retreat Center is a haven away from the ordinary. Located in the Mohawk Valley near Eugene/Oregon, it is the perfect location to step out of daily life for four days and step into a place where you are held by majestic trees and nourishing waters. Meander along the trails, nap in the shade, soak in the hot tub, or dip in the swimming hole, this place is intimate and magical – truly one of Oregon’s hidden emerald gems. Bring your swimsuit and dive in!
Abstracted Play in Oil and Cold Wax
Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
(on the Oregon coast at Cascade Head)
August 23-27, 2026
Registration through Sitka will open early 2026
Jump into the deep end of color and the rich luminosity of oil paint mixed with cold wax. We will apply paint with squeegees and putty knives (it's like painting with whipped butter). Let's pump up the color and make bold, startling marks to create surprise and take our breath away. We will enhance our paintings by making more lines and marks than usual, taking our lines for a leisurely walk through the paint. We'll work intuitively and energetically on multiple pieces, exploring texture, layers, composition, and design with an emphasis on color. Layers dry quickly and cleanup is done with baby oil. You will complete several pieces and go home with painting starts.
My art can be viewed on this website and at the following galleries:
Astoria, Oregon
Salem, Oregon
The Independence, a Trace Hotel
Independence, Oregon
Dundee, Oregon
