Building Creative Muscles

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, 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 front and center. You will leave with fresh ideas, the beginnings of a visual journal for recording quotes, a place to practice sketching and painting exercises, experiment with quick collages, and lists of ideas to experiment with once you are home.

Dayna's fiery red hair sets the tone for how she makes her art and lives her life. She is an energetic, intuitive, abstract painter working in oil and cold wax. She loves experimenting with texture, layers and color, likening her paintings to going on an archaeological dig.

She paints intuitively and abstractly, laying down bold swaths of color in oil paint mixed with cold wax, then going back in, scraping, layering, adding, subtracting, refining the composition and finally discovering the story buried in the paint. She loves making marks using oil pigment sticks, graphite, or by scratching into the surface with a sharp object, each mark reflecting her eclectic personality. She is an energetic teacher and provides a safe place for students to experiment and learn new techniques.

Mixed media journal. Suggested journals: Stillman & Birn (Zeta series – I like the softbound style) 7-½ x 7-½ or 8 x 10 inches; Bee Paper Aquabee Super Deluxe Sketchbook 7-½ x 7-½ or 9x9 inches; or Canson Mixed Media XL 7x10 inches. You are welcome to get bigger

size journals if you prefer. I have used all sizes.  

 

Pen and pencil 

Water container 

Bring a favorite quote 

Gel medium for gluing

Paintbrushes

Palette paper

Paint

Brayers

Black Sharpies

Collage paper

Wax paper

Variety of mark-making materials to experiment with, including a variety of pencils, Marabu Art Crayons, china markers, oil pastels, Neo Pastels, Posca pens, charcoal, Woodie wax pencils, Fine Line Applicators, soft pastels, and Inktense blocks.

All materials needed for activities and exercises are provided as well as printed handouts.