Marjorie Collins grew up in Chicago and trained at the University of Michigan where she gained a Bachelor’s degree in Design, followed by part time graduate courses at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was in Chicago that her interest in how light falls on buildings led to the style that characterises her work. She moved to Oxford in 1975 and this exhibition follows the refinement of that technique. She has exhibited widely and her work can be found in a number of corporate and private collections both in the UK and the US. Images of her work have appeared in a number of art publications and on the artuk.org website. Marjorie is a Member of the Society of Women Artists, the Society of Botanical Artists and the Oxford Art Society.

This exhibition represents a selection of the paintings Marjorie has completed since moving to Oxford from Chicago in 1975 until the present. During this time she has exhibited her paintings widely in galleries in solo and group shows both in the United States and in England – where her work can be found in corporate, private and public collections. Open exhibitions include The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours and the Royal Watercolour Society. Prizes she has been awarded include

Winsor and Newton Grand Award – Celebration 2000 Competition (Artist Magazine)

Winsor and Newton First Prize – Royal Watercolour Society 2011

Daniel Smith Excellence in Colour Award – Society of Women Artists 2011

Faso Boldbrush Merchandise Award – Women in Watercolour (US Int. Juried Competition 2022)

Established Artist Award – Society of Women Artists Exhibition 2022

Guest Selector’s Prize – Oxford Art Society Members' Exhibition 2023

This exhibition is a 50 year Retrospective, 1975-2025, held at the North Wall Gallery, South Parade, Oxford from April 23 - May 11, 2025. See www.thenorthwall.com for normal opening hours. In addition, there will be a formal Exhibition Opening, Thursday 24 April, 6 - 8 pm, and a Special Sunday opening, 11 May 12 noon - 4 pm, with "Meet the Artist" from 2 - 4 pm., all open and free to the public.

"Light, and the abstract shadows, shapes and reflections that it can impart on objects or surfaces, is the unifying theme that runs through the work in Marjorie Collins’ retrospective exhibition. Although she started out painting people and places, today Marjorie is better known for her colourful contemporary watercolours of still lifes and florals often painting objects larger than life. Marjorie still paints urban scenes, many from unusual angles to create abstract shapes but with the resulting image still representational."