SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2008

Aspiring ballplayer found his right field

By Sarah Murphy
Mon May 19, 2008, 02:43 PM EDT

FALMOUTH -

Neil Collins was 9-years-old when he painted his first mural.

"I did Fenway on my bedroom wall with the four letters of my name on the bases,” he says.

Like many young boys, Collins spent his youth playing little league and Babe Ruth baseball and rooting for the Boston Red Sox.

"I grew up watching the games with my dad and idolizing Ted Williams," he says.

But around 15 or 16, he became more focused on his art.

"I finally realized the Sox probably weren’t going to draft me," he says.

He put down his bat and picked up his brushes, forfeiting the dream of playing left field.

Collins then started reading art magazines to learn more about the craft and eventually wrote to artist Kent Twitchell for advice.“He wrote back to me and told me how to prepare a surface, how to varnish,” he says. “He was really helpful.”Collins, who graduated from Falmouth High School and lives in Mashpee, is now a full-time artist, and specializes in murals, paintings, signs and holiday cards. Much of his work involves underwater images or sports-related scenes. When recreating familiar scenes such as landmarks, Collins always adds his own stamp."For this one, I’m painting Nobska the way I remember it," he says, pointing to the white shingles on his canvas. Collins says paintings that depict the lighthouse since it was re-shingled over five years ago aren’t as popular."I like it the way it used to be and it seems like other people do, too."His beachside easel draws attention; cars slow down as they make their way past the Nobska beach houses, heads crane out windows to get a better look. Beach strollers approach curiously with cameras. Collins stands as if before a mirror, his canvas reflecting the majestic lighthouse in front of him.This particular painting will be auctioned off for charity at Mashnee Beach Club in Bourne Sunday, June 8. The proceeds will go toward chemotherapy treatments for 11-year-old John Lunedei Jr. of Bourne who was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.Collins studied for two years at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale but left because it was too expensive. Upon returning to the Cape, he took business and art courses at Cape Cod Community College, and describes art professor Sara Ringler as one of the best teachers he ever had."She always went the extra mile to show she cared," he says. "Whatever you needed, she was there for you."

Collins doesn’t deny it can be difficult pursuing art professionally.

"They sell day-old bread for a reason," he says, dryly.

Like his childhood heroes, Collins makes a positive impact with his involvement in the Jimmy Fund. In 2006, two of his theme-painted cows were selected for the Cow Parade Boston and were displayed in the city from June through Labor Day and later auctioned off to benefit the fund.

"Cape Cowder," which features lobster claw horns, was displayed in front of the Prudential Center and “Ted Williams Cow,” covered in black and white images of the Red Sox icon, was displayed in front of the Old North Church, both raising a combined total of $13,500.

The fund later asked Collins to design a holiday card and in 2007, his Fenway-themed card was its top-seller, selling 52,000 copies.

His childhood passion for the Rex Sox has never waned. “Moonshot” features David Ortiz standing at the plate under a moonlit Boston skyline. Signed, numbered canvas prints of the premiere and second edition of the painting are available only at Yankee Accent in Osterville.

Since returning to the Cape from Fla., Collins has experienced a lot support and encouragement from the local art community.

“The Woodruffs of Woodruff’s Art Center in Mashpee Commons are great people. They provide a place for artists to network,” he says. “You need that when things aren’t going so well. It’s important for artists to have support from people who have been doing it longer.”

Collins likens it to the way blues musicians paved the way for those who followed.

“Without them,” he says. “There wouldn’t be a Led Zeppelin.”

Collins has also picked up his bat again and plays with the Baseball Clubs of Cape Cod, an amateur, wooden-bat league, just in case the Red Sox need him."They could have had the wrong number," he says and laughs, dabbing paint on a panoramic en plein air scene of Nobska Lighthouse.