Artist Derek Collins' photostream

Visit my;
Acrylic Web site at : www.derekcollins.etsy.com
Watercolor Website: www.watercolorsbyderek.etsy.com
Blog at: artistderekcollins.blogspot.com
Dereks talks art /painting and selling tips: artistderek.blogspot.com





Derek is a full time, established, award winning artist and has been painting for over 20 years. Derek exhibits at the top ranked juried art shows in the nation. He does about 20 shows a year in 12 different states. He has been feature in print and interviewed on television concerning his art. His Baseball abstract ,"You're Outta Here"; is displayed in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Sports Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. Prints of his paintings grace the walls of 4 and 5 star hotels.

Artist Statement:

I just really love to paint. I have painted in oil, acrylic and watercolor. My style is an ever-changing thing. My landscapes are somewhere in between traditional, contemporary and impressionistic. I also do geometric Abstracts. I have juried into the top shows in the country in all 3 mediums.
A common thread you will always see in my paintings is the Light. Look for the Light , what direction is it coming from? Look for the shadows. Look for the sparkling Highlights. I paint very freely with a very minimal plan, usually with no drawing or sketching. I draw with the paint. My Abtracts are filled with textures and are built up in multiple layers. I never know when my mood will change and take me in a different direction. Often in the middle of a painting, I will see something happening and I have learned over the years to always go with the feeling. When this happens, an abstract may turn into a landscape or a sunset may turn into a snow scene. I don't plan color schemes, they happen instinctively, When I put a red on the canvas, that red will tell me the shade green that I should put beside it, almost without thought. It took me many years to get to this level of freedom. When I first started painting decades ago, my paintings were very tight and I used very small brushes. I would draw everything out first, in great detail . With each passing year painting becomes more like play. I guess it's true! When you get old you become like a child again.

Selected Shows, Participated In: These are all top 100 ranked shows in the Nation

Cottonwood Art Fair: Dallas, TX

Bayou CityArt Fair: Houston,TX

Manayunk Art Fair: Philadelphia, PA

Dogwood Art Fair: Atlanta,GA

Ann Arbor Art Fair: Ann Arbor,MI

Virginia Beach Art Fair: VA Beach, VA

Uptown Art Fair: Minneapolis, MN

St James Art Fair: Louisville, KY

Lamieier Art Fair: St. Louis, MO

The Magnificant Mile: Chicago, IL