"The darkest dark in the light is lighter than the lightest light in
the dark." Despite a sign
proclaiming this visual truth in the family room of her home where her mother
taught oil painting, design and composition, Rachel Collins managed to avoid
art once it was no longer a
required subject in school, until she reached her
mid-thirties. By then she had graduated from Middlebury College with a degree
in French, obtained a masters degree in library science from the University of
Wisconsin, and worked for several years as librarian, archivist and museum
curator at the Baha'i World Centre
in Haifa, Israel.
Upon her return to the States in 1990, an interest in natural science
illustration led her to an internship in the Department of Entomology at the
Museum of Natural History. But eventually watercolor, originally taken up as a
once-a -week hobby in Israel, became her primary medium. Her interest in
natural science subjects has continued, but with a fine arts focus. Her work
has hung and taken awards in a variety of nationally competitive watercolor
exhibits such as Watercolor USA and Rocky Mountain National Watermedia
exhibit, and she has had solo shows in galleries at art centers, colleges and
universities, and other institutions in the Washington, DC area.
The scientific illustration to the left is Moth
prob. Milionia, gouache, acrylic, 4"x5", 1994
She has taught classes and workshops in watercolor at The Art League School in
Alexandria, VA since 1996, and now teaches at the
Yellow Barn
Studio in Glen Echo, MD as well. In 2001-3 she taught an intensive
summer course in watercolor at the
Baha’i Academy for the Arts in England. She
is a member of the Torpedo Factory Artists Association and as such works in
her studio in the
Torpedo Factory Art Center in
Alexandria. From 2003-2005 she served as the president of the
Potomac Valley
Watercolorists, a juried organization of watercolor painters in the
metropolitan Washington area.
The painting to the right is Balcony
in Sedona, watercolor, 21"x9", 1996
Rachel Collins lives with her husband in southeastern
Fairfax County, Virginia; they have two adult children. When not involved
in painting, Rachel plays the bassoon with the Alexandria Band of Northern
Virginia Community College and currently serves as chairman of the Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Mount
Vernon, Virginia.
