While we both maintain our individual bodies of work, we also find joy in working together on sculptures. We both bring specialized backgrounds to the table – my extensive background in ceramic sculpture and anatomical study is the perfect complement to Colin’s 25 years of experience as a professional painter and sculptor.
On our "50/50" collaborations, as can be seen in some of the Chimaera Series, it really is a complete collaboration from the beginning. We both have our hands in every part of the process - both literally and figuratively, often working on opposite sides of the same sculpture at the same time. On other collaborations, where one of us takes the conceptual or creative lead concept, we consider that they are the principal for that sculpture. Click on the buttons below to see some of our collaborative works.
Born into families with artistic lineages, Colin and Kristine Poole have been following their creative paths since childhood. Through their early years, they developed similar passions for representational art and rendering the human figure.
In 2008, their paths converged in Santa Fe when he asked her to dance a Tango. Married in Greece the following year, they combined their artistic talents to develop their current style of classically inspired contemporary realism. They are devoted to their study at museums around the world, making annual pilgrimages to draw inspiration from many diverse genres, artists and periods.
While they both maintain individual bodies of work, their collaborative clay and bronze sculptures have been recognized with awards in international exhibits and publications including being featured in the The Wall Street Journal. Collectively, they have been commissioned to create works for National Geographic, National Audubon, Spectrum, The Denver Comic Con, Daimler-Benz, Exxon, Lourdes Cathedral - France as well as numerous Fortune 500 companies. The scale of their work spans small to life-size as well as monumental bronze public art works, most recently for the Carnegie Library in Michigan.
The Pooles have been invited to lecture on their art and business for organizations across the country including the Smithsonian Institution, the Albuquerque Museum of Art, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, the Las Cruces Museum of Art, Santa Fe College, The GoggleWorks, Virginia Commonwealth University and Western New Mexico University.
They currently live and create in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains overlooking Santa Fe, surrounded by their menagerie of birds and beasts.
Photo by Greg Preston, Sampsel Preston Photography
Photo by Greg Preston, Sampsel Preston Photography