Series 1979 - 2023
Women with Hats
Created while a student at NSCAD, Collins made 12 paintings based on photos he found in a vintage Life magazine. The magazine, from the 1940s, features photos of models wearing hats made by amateur milliners who were working on behalf of the war effort. The article includes details about the amount of time it took to create each hat, as well as how much money sales of the hat would contribute to the war effort.
On the frame edge of each painting, Collins added the time each painting took to make, as well as how much each had cost him to make. The 12 paintings were exhibited at the Anna Leonowens Gallery as a series (1979).
100 Portraits
In 1984, Collins received a Canada Council “B” Grant that allowed him to take on a project of painting 100 portraits. To find sitters, he took out a classified advertisement in a local New Brunswick newspaper (the Saint John Telegraph Journal), and was interviewed on a local radio program. As an incentive, he offered his sitters ownership of their 20 x 24 inch portrait paintings after they had been publicly exhibited. The show of this series was his first following graduation from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
Harlequin Romance
Following the 100 Portrait paintings, Collins took on another project of 100 paintings – this time layering 10 paintings on top of 10 canvases. The paintings were inspired by vintage Harlequin Romance novel covers that Collins found displayed in thrift stores.
Diary Paintings
Collins spent a year making one painting per day, based on memories. These paintings include interiors with flower arrangements, paintings of works in progress, views through windows, landscapes, and cats.
Skulls with Hats
During the COVID pandemic, Collins re-visited his Women with Hats series that was inspired by the 1940s Life magazine. He repeated the original series using the same hats, but this time placed them on skeletons, a nod to Vanitas paintings.
