collins began painting thoroughbred racehorses in the 1930s. in 1941, she won first prize for "bronco" at the finger lakes exhibition in northern new york. she became interested in painting racing colts in florida at hialeah and at oriental park in havana. collins held an exhibition in 1941 at saratoga, new york and sold paintings to al sabath and col. e. r. bradley. she then painted alsab, who won the narragansett in the fall of 1942, for sabath. to complete a painting, she researched the horse, visited its stable, and sketched the horse and any distinctive marks. collins used vivid colors and illustrated the effects of sun and wind in her works. it took about a month to complete her realistic paintings that captured the horses personalities. in the early 1940s she worked in her lyons, new york studio.