For Collins, this painting reflects the myth of lone success.  Success does not come without outside help.  We are each raised to heights we could never have hoped to achieve without someone, somewhere along the line, believing in us and lifting us higher.  Sometimes it is a love, a partner, a friend, a parent. No matter the form, there is always someone along the way, a guiding hand that was unforeseen upon our journey, who changes everything.

Perhaps that is the very nature of love.

That is why, somewhat hidden, there is a second horse within in this work.

So, what about Ruffian?

Brilliant Ruffian was the first horse to win the Filly Triple Crown in 1975.

She was in the lead at every point in every race she ever ran - a total of 10 races.  That bears repeating. She was in the lead at EVERY POINT in EVERY RACE she ever ran, including those against colts. But her story was not an obvious one, just as no success is ever in a straight line.

Ruffian was extremely large for a filly, and most that saw her thought she could never carry a race through to the end.  She was not considered worth spending extensive training on and was left to the side during her first year.  But she showed something that trainer Frank Whitely Jr. felt in his heart, and, despite reluctance from the owners, he began spending more and more time with this very special soul.

The races were indeed won by Ruffian, a remarkable entity, but her path along the track was due in a large part to the hand of a lesser-known trainer.

Some of the collage chaos above the figurative horse is not just about movement, it is also Collins' playful nod to Ruffians mother, whose name was "Shenanigans."

Mixed Media: Oil, Acrylic, Historic Pages, Found Objects, Family Photos, and Postcards from 1943