I decided that I wanted to become a painter at the age of 13 when I won a school scholarship to
attend a Saturday lecture series at the Art Institute of Chicago and was inspired by seeing the
many examples of paintings in their collection and learning the stories of the artists who painted them and the techniques behind the works.
I began my career as a painter of people and places mostly in oils, and I still paint cityscapes but
now in watercolour. For many years now, I have mostly concentrated on the painting of contemporary still lifes and florals in watercolour, and these will be shown in this exhibition. The many objects and fabrics which I have collected for a long time from my travels and at flea markets have inspired these paintings along with bright colours, simple and complex fabric patterns and the bold shadow shapes produced by lighting the objects with a strong light source. Among the many
objects in my collection, my favourites are metal and glass vases and bowls that provide the interesting reflections that I enjoy painting. Although I arrange the various elements such as fruit
and flowers, many are painted larger than life, in a shallow space, so as to create a strong
abstract pattern and the resulting image representational.
All paintings in the exhibition are for sale. Framed work mostly has oak frames; there is also a substantial body of unframed work available.
I am originally from Chicago, and I trained at the University of Michigan from where I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Design. I have for many years been living and working in Oxford exhibiting my paintings in Oxfordshire Artweeks during most of that time. In addition I have exhibited my paintings widely in galleries in solo and group shows both in the US and in England and open exhibitions including TheRoyal Academy Summer Show, Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and the Royal Watercolour Society. My work can also be found in a number of corporate, private and public collections in both the US and UK and images of my paintings have appeared in a number of magazines and books and also on the Art UK website.
Among the many prizes my work has received are the Winsor and Newton Grand Award in the
Celebration 2000 Competition (Artist Magazine), Runner up for the St Cuthbert’s Mill Award (Society of Botanical Artists competition 2007), Daler Rowney Purchase Prize (Society of Women Artists 2008), Finalist (Flowers and Garden competition ) International Artist magazine 2009, Winsor and Newton First Prize (Royal Watercolour Society 2011), Daniel Smith Excellence in Colour Award (Society of Women Artists 2011), Shortlisted Artist of the Year Award (Artists and Illustrators magazine 2013, 2014), shortlisted for the Jackson’s Open Art Prize 2018, St Cuthbert’s Paper Mill Award (Society of Women Artists 2018 and Winner (in 2021) of The Artist Magazine’s 90th anniversary challenge to paint a city scene.
I am a member of the Society of Women Artists, the Society of Botanical Artists and the Oxford Art Society. My work can be viewed at www.marjoriecollins.com