Neil Collins

Neil started painting in watercolour around ten years ago. First efforts were not promising but the training he had received as a youngster at the Sutton and Cheam School of Art and The London College of Printing proved invaluable so gradually, as time permitted, the results improved, if not his temper when things did not go to plan.

A career in Graphic Design led Neil in many directions including Design Groups, Publishing, Marketing, Print, PR and Sponsorship. In the early 60s it was a brave individual who became a fine artist, most had to use their skills commercially to earn a living. 

Neil’s overriding passion is, and always has been, motorsport. It was no coincidence that he became a senior designer and subsequently a director of CSS Design, a corporate sponsorship business heavily involved in Formula 1 and many other Formulas and sports. There he was involved in design and visualising for Williams, Lotus, Cosworth, Lola, Ford, Mobil etc etc. Ironically one notable success was his design of the logo used everywhere for many years by The Football League, a sport he can’t stand. 

Now retired and after an enforced 10 year second career as a Driving Instructor, Neil can at last focus on watercolour painting in his garden studio, when his four grandchildren will allow him. Exhibiting with The Croydon Art Society, assisting in admin where he can and through a former CSS colleague, exhibiting at The RAC Art of Motoring Exhibition in Pall Mall he can sell paintings of what remains his favourite subject, motorsport.