About the Artist

Here’s my story in a nutshell, and the allusion is apropos since I’ve been accused of being a little “nutty.”

     I grew up drawing and painting from an early age, inheriting a bit of my mother’s many talents. Fast forward to my senior year in college. An army draft notice landed in my mailbox and rudely interrupted any plans for medical school. The Air Force seemed like a good idea, nothing against the Army, but I favored airplanes over fox holes. So began a flying career, finishing up my commitment to the Air Force flying DC-3’s in Viet Nam, and subsequently flying for 25 years commercially for PSA and USair.

     During all those flying years I moonlighted as a humorous greeting card writer and free-lance magazine cartoonist, selling to Cosmopolitan, Saturday Evening Post, and Good Housekeeping, for example. I also created the syndicated newspaper strip, “The Captain and Mandy,” dealing with the first woman in the cockpit and a macho captain. The strip appeared in over 80 newspapers nationwide.

Cartoon collection books published include: "The Captain and Mandy," Years of Laughs," and upcoming "More Years of Laughs."

After an early retirement I returned to the easel, studied for years with Leonardo Scarola, then ventured outside with a variety of respected plein air painting instructors. Embracing the challenge and mystery of oil paint and light on a two-dimensional surface was life-changing. The adventure, the quest, the goal was to lay something on the canvas that embodies the spirit of the scene, as well as the beauty, and in that, was the ultimate satisfaction.

I’m currently represented at Mission Fine Art Gallery, San Juan Capistrano, Studio 7, Laguna Beach, Chemers Gallery, Tustin.

All the best,

Steve Kell