 In 1986 she married the Zimbabwean sculptor Fabian Madamombe, with whom she later had seven children.Initially, she specialized in drawing and painting but in 1987 she went to help her husband in his sculpting at Chapungu Sculpture Park where she started stone carving.Colleen became close friends with fellow female sculptor, Agnes Nyanhongo, and rapidly developed her own style of sculpting in the three years she stayed full-time at Chapungu.