Lois Collins
"I didn't know I had any art in me," says Lois Collins of Michigan. She began to paint in her forties, and is now in her eighties. Collins has produced over a hundred paintings. Most of her work shows Michigan's rural Upper Peninsula where she has spent most of her life. She paints skating parties, dances, church-going, and other events, all of them bursting with human and animal figures. Her paintings emphasize outdoor activities: skating, fishing, sledding, dog sledding, boating, and horseback riding. She has also produced a number of paintings of biblical settings and religious scenes, which reflect her beliefs. When she is painting, she says, "I'm happy and all is right with the world."
She creates her version of the world, based largely on the one in which she grew up. She uses recollections of the past to produce art. Memories are important to her and she does prefer to show what she describes as "restful, peaceful, happy events." Collins' paintings are colorful and cheerful, but her own life has had dark periods. Born during the Depression, she was placed in an orphan home when her father was hospitalized. A childless couple who lived on a farm in Skanee, Michigan adopted her.

	David and Samuel Medium: Acrylic on canvas Size: 12 x 16 Was: $375 SALE PRICE: $175 framed!		David and Samuel Medium: Acrylic on masonite Size: Price: $550
	Jumping Rope and Birds Medium: Acrylic on canvas Size: 12 x 16 Was: $375 SALE PRICE: $175 framed!		Moses and the Angel Medium: Acrylic on canvas Size: 12 x 16 Was: $375 SALE PRICE: $175 framed!
	Boy on a Swing Medium: Acrylic on canvas Size: 12 x 16 Was: $375 SALE PRICE: $175 framed!		Joseph and His Coat Medium: oil on canvas Size: 24 x 36 Price: $850
	Jesus and His Court Medium: oil on canvas Size: 23 x 29 Price: $750		Whorehouse Medium: oil on canvas Size: Price: SOLD
	A Gathering Storm Medium: oil on canvas Size: 16 x 20 Price: $250		Grandma's Suburban Garden Medium: acrylic on canvas board Size: 30 x 15 Price: $350
	Mary Magdalene Medium: acrylic on canvas board Size: 15 x 30 Price: $295		The Widows Medium: acrylic on canvas Size: 24 x 36 Price: $395