COLLEEN STRATTON
Los Angeles based artist/filmmaker Colleen Stratton has been drawing since she could pick up a pencil. When she was a teenager, an adorable fantasy animal emerged from her subconscious. While studying illustration at California State University, Long Beach, twenty-five more magical creatures leapt onto page after page of archival paper in the shape of letters, becoming the basis for a series of fine art prints and an unpublished picture book entitled Anamabet. These creatures Colleen calls Anam Caras (Ah-nam Kär-as -- meaning Soul Friends in Gaelic), are currently in development to star in an animated television program for children.
After college, Colleen worked as a freelance illustrator and commercial artist, before she segued into fine art. Her gallery and solo exhibitions led to a collaboration with Britt Welin on a series of short experimental art videos that sparked Colleen’s interest in making films. As she explored her new passion, she became active in Cinewomen, a non-profit organization of professional women in the entertainment industry, for which she produced monthly events, for four years, featuring guests such as Director Christopher Nolan and Woody Allen’s Producer Charles H. Joffe. Then Colleen teamed up with The Getty Research Institute to produce a screening and discussion of the film ONEGIN at the Museum of Tolerance. All of which has brought her to her current labor of love, Psycho Kitties.
