About The Artist Neil Collins

I was born in SF, CA. As a child I lived in Las Vegas, NV. When I was 12, my family and I tried to relocate to Alaska. We packed every thing up into a van and set out on the road headed north. At the Canadian border, we were denied entry, because we were almost out of $ and you had to show that you had $300- cash to get across. So we camped out in a tent at the "Ferndale Campground" about 20 miles shy of Canada. After living on an isolated beef ranch in Northwestern Washington state for a few years, I got really restless. The combo of entering the teenage years, being on the ranch and reading things like Kerouac didn't mix well. So I started seeking out the trouble makers at school and as soon as I could, I left home at 14. I lived on the streets, hitch hiked and rode freight trains for the next 4 years, before finally settling down in Tucson. I began following my longtime interest in the making of art. I am a self taught artist and have been painting in oils seriously for over 10 years now. I've had to do a lot of construction to pay the bills over the years, but that has helped my view of art evolve in ways that I could never have dreamed possible if some education and career had just been handed to me. I went and lived in Portland, OR for a year,learning to tattoo, at night and working as a hodcarrier during the day. I have my own website www.studio23tucson.com where all my work can be viewed and purchased. I accept paypal and am more than happy to work with some one on pricing as well as payment plans. I can ship paintings to any where in the U.S. To be honest, I love to make art and plan to do it in spite of what the art market is up to. Never the less, making art is much easier, when I can afford to eat. So, basically I want my art to belong to some one who enjoys it, along with me getting some small reimbursement so that I can live and continue creating. Hope you enjoy the work. Thanks.

My New Studio At Crow House

It's been a rough past few months, living and working at the Cherry House. The place had a lot of potential, but as it turned out, the person at the helm couldn't keep it together. As the old saying goes "the captain must go down with his ship". The place wasn't very conducive to creativity, with no electricity, cooking facilities or proper bathroom. In spite of my better judgement, I stuck it out there, far longer than what was good for me, in hopes of seeing what a glorious space the place could become. So, Luckily I am on to better things and have finally settled into my new space here at Crow House! It is a perfect little studio, on the outskirts of central Tucson. The first project when I got here was to install a 7 foot long bay window and an extensive wooden shelving system on the North wall. The window is up high and of course gives the perfect North light. I put my plants in front of the window and they add the small touch that makes a huge difference for me, allowing the creative process to thrive. I am getting the opportunity to express my long time urge to design and create environments. Bryan and I have all kinds of plans for outdoor chilling areas on the property, that include brick, flagstone and succulents. I've completed the south property wall. The patio project is moving along slowly, but surely. I just used up the last of the flagstone that we scavenged from the neighbor's back yard, after he moved. Now I won't be doing any more masonry, until I get more lime for the mortar. I've been staying up late, painting every night and have been able to do more art here in the past few weeks than I could do in the entire 4 or 5 months at Cherry house.

 Having a good live-work space that is artist friendly makes all the difference in the world. I am presently finishing up a very cool oil painting of Pia next to a freight train in Portland, OR.