From an early age, Jacqueline Collen-Tarrolly was seeing faces and shapes in the trees and mountains of the rural area in Colorado she where she was raised. Living on a ranch in the middle of nowhere left lots of time for this shy, misfit kid to get to know the patterns of nature, and rhythms of the wild. With the nearest town several miles away, her dearest friends became the ranch animals and the trees in which she spent hours hiding and dreaming.
It was not long before sketching the faces and lives she saw in those secret spaces became a way of expressing that side of her nature without far of ridicule from the small town and small minds of the conservative town closest to her home. Quite the opposite, she discovered, she was praised for it! Her first art award was a first place at the age of five in an art competition for artist under 12 years of age. She had painted a tooth fairy.

After leaving Colorado at the age of 18, she traveled extensively for many years, first as a model, then as the wife of a musician. Her wanderings took her across the world, to such far off places as India, and such not so exotic places as "Home Town, USA". Jacqueline never lost the ability to see the hidden worlds, and never lost her desire to put those creatures, textures and colors down on paper.

After a divorce left her settled in Los Angles with a small son and a brood of household pets, she once again began hearing the call of the wild things. The faces and voice of the fae that were always with her began speaking in earnest. "We have been left behind too long" they said. Picking up her brush and paints, and taking a deep breath at the leap she was about to make, she gave in to the one true thing that had ever been with her and started painting.

Now a few years later, her work has become increasingly respected and sought after. She has been published by Chrysalis Publishing in The Art of Fairy, with foreword by Brian Froud, and has a second book coming out this Fall, a beautiful instructional book on Watercolor Fairies. Her work has been licensed on everything from stickers and magnets to slate stones. She has become a sought after artist at two of the largest Renaissance Faires in the country, with more Festivals on the horizon, including Brian Froud’s Fairieworlds festival this Summer.

Jacqueline currently lives in Los Angeles still, in the cottage named Toadstool Farm, where she breeds and raises rare breed horses such a Friesians and Gypsy Cobs… true fairytale horses, many of which have become the subjects of numerous of her paintings. She is happily ensconced there with her new husband, 14 year old son, 13 horses and a bevy of small pets, and of course, the ever changing clutch of faerey folk of Toadstool Farm.

She remains a misfit.