About the Artist

Colleen has been an artist most of her life. She studied art at CSU Humboldt, CSU San Jose and attended the California State Summer School for the Arts program at CalArts in Valencia all before she turned 19. She has studied under artists such as Eric Fischl, April Gornik and Eduardo Carrillo.
In 1995, Colleen decided to fine tune her art skills. She left for Italy to attend the L'Academmia di Belle Arti, the primary art school in Florence founded by Michelangelo, where she was classically trained in figure drawing, painting and portraiture. She then returned to the University of California, Santa Cruz, to receive her degree in Fine Art in 1998. Shortly after graduation, Colleen began to work as a scenic artist for professional theatre.
After painting backdrops and set pieces at an enormous scale, it was natural for Colleen to begin painting large murals and backdrops commissioned by clients such as Cisco Systems, the Sheraton Waikiki, Hawaii Theatre and Vans, Inc.
Her artistic themes center around the surfing experience; rendering with paint the terrifying power and beauty of the ocean just before that spectacular wipeout, and the redemption one feels by catching the perfect ride shortly thereafter.
She currently resides in Central California, where she divides her time between painting and surfing.