DALLAS--(1998)--Paula Collins is a fine artist that works in a very unusual medium -- brick. "I just knew clay was my life when my instructor placed a lump of moist earth in my hands in 1968," she recalls.

After graduating from the University of Iowa in 1973 with a B.A. in Art, she began her work with clay at a farm that had been in her family for over one hundred years located near Ft. Scott, Kansas. She handmade her first kiln, "I used rubble brick and fashioned the burners from old pipe fittings. My salt-glazed pots were made from clay dug from the farm."

Paula opened a small store in Ft. Scott, and was doing a thriving business selling "pots, pigs, and other ceramic creations." But, she was restless to live in a larger community, and to focus on her artwork. Paula chose nearby Tulsa. It was there, at a local artfest, that another artist told her that Bob Marks, regional sales director for Acme Brick in Oklahoma City, was looking for an artist to carve brick. She contacted him, and her first contract came soon after. It was a request from Conoco Oil Corporate Headquarters in Oklahoma for a 10x84 foot bas-relief glazed brick mural to be installed in the executive cafeteria. Paula completed the job in 1982.

More contracts followed. She sculpts the "green" brick into murals that are truly amazing. Her work stirs emotion in the viewers. At the unveiling of "The Resurrection" and "The Holy Family", an installation commissioned by St. Thomas Aquinas church in Sugarland, Texas, people cried and came up to hug and thank Paula for her wonderful creations.

In 1985, Paula made the decision to buy her own Piper Comanche and become a pilot to simplify getting in and out of job sites. "I oversee all installations personally, and being a pilot cuts down on the traveling time and car rental costs, too."

In 1995 Paula completed a 200 square foot historical collage for American Bank in Baxter Springs, Kansas. Her list of clients include Fortune 500 companies across the country. "I love what I do and feel very fortunate to be able to support myself with my art."

Biography photograph by Billie Jean Antonelli.