"We are shaped and fashioned by what we love”

~ Goethe

     Los Angeles based artist, writer and filmmaker, Colleen Stratton, began drawing as soon as she could pick up a pencil.  Horses quickly became her favorite subject.  Her first novel, Starfire, a Foal, written when she was only eight-years-old, has unfortunately never been to press, but has set her firmly upon the path she follows to this day.

     As a teenager, a furry fantasy animal with an elephant’s trunk, a bushy-bushy hairdo and soft lavender eyes emerged from Colleen’s subconscious.  By the time she began studying illustration at California State University, Long Beach, twenty-five more little magical creatures followed, in the shape of letters, leaping onto page after page of archival paper.  Through years of development, four incarnations of paintings resulted in an unpublished, but exquisitely rendered watercolor and ink alphabet book titled, Anamabet.  These creatures Colleen named Anam Caras (Ah-nam Kär-as), meaning Soul Friends in Gaelic, evolved into spirit guides that can only be seen by those pure of heart.  The Anam Caras are now being developed for an animated television program for children.

     Starting with Silly Wabbits – a surrealist acrylic painting, that took third prize in the Orange Art Association’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Art Show, over the vociferous objection of judge, Bob Clampett, creator of Beanie and Cecil, (who thought it should place first!), Colleen pursued fine art, with solo and group exhibitions of her series of Record Assemblages.  Additionally, in the late 1980’s, she collaborated with L. A. based artist Britt Welin, writing, directing and producing the highly successful Marriage of Art series of experimental short art videos that screened in galleries and art clubs in New York and Los Angeles.

         From 1996 to 2000, Colleen single-handedly produced monthly events for Cinewoman, a non-profit organization of professional women in the entertainment industry.  Guests included Director Christopher Nolan (Batman, Memento), Producer Charles H. Joffe (Woody Allen Films), Director Allison Anders (Gas, Food and Lodging, Mi Vida Loca and Grace Of My Heart), Producer Deepak Nayar (The Straight Story, Buena Vista Social Club).  During this same period, her screenplay, Daimon, became a finalist in the Aperture Film Grant Competition.

         In Jan. 2000, Colleen produced a screening and discussion at the Museum of Tolerance with The Getty Research Institute of the film Onegin, starring two-time Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler.  Panelists included Director, Martha Fiennes, Screenwriter Peter Ettedgui, UCLA Russian Literature Scholar, Professor V. V. Ivanov, and renowned Author/Film Critic for Time Magazine, Richard Schickel.

     Recently, Colleen’s two neutred male cats (who hate each other) became her inspiration for Psycho Kitties, a 4 1/2 minute digital video parody of Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Psycho.  A 55-minute documentary, opening with the parody is in postproduction.  The short version is slated for the Tribeca Film Festival in Spring 2006.  Colleen is most proud of the fact that no humans were injured during the making of this film.