acrylic paintings

Colleen began producing a series of acrylic and watercolor paintings on paper while living in the mountain jungle of Honduras and serving as a Peace Corps volunteer from 2005-2007.

“I always liked drawing and painting and was scolded by art teachers when I was a kid.  They were angry that none of my work looked realistic.  Perhaps this was why I took up the camera.  The lens records things precisely.  Hand-coloring black and white photographs offered a lot of artistic freedom.  After many years of working in the darkroom, I discovered clay and it was the perfect balance to photography.  I wanted to make clay pieces that I could paint. I was inspired by Picasso’s whimsical work on ceramics.  I experimented a lot with glazes and under glazes.  The more primitive, the more I liked it.

Many of my works on paper were painted from photographs that I have made here during my time in Honduras.  The faces of my kind neighbors and friends in the campo provided endless opportunities for photography and ultimately, painting.”

Colleen says that living abroad got in her blood.