Steve was born in Idaho but was raised in California in a small town about fifty miles north of Bakersfield. His freshman year of high school was when his interest in art really began to take hold. Steve’s art teacher Mr. Bitner introduced him to the work of Wayne Thiebaud and silkscreen printing. It was an art field trip to Los Angeles his sophomore year with a small group of art students that made a lasting impression on him. On that trip he visited galleries on La Cienega Blvd, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the art department at UCLA where he was able to see contemporary art up close for the first time. Steve obtained Associate and BFA degrees in graphic design from Ricks College and Brigham Young University. While working in the graphic design field in Sacramento, he started seriously working on fine art, creating serigraph prints and his first box assemblages. In 1989 a job offer led him and his family to Utah where his development in the arts really began to flourish. Steve taught himself to weave; make baskets; play several musical instruments, including performing in a folk group. Steve has had opportunities to show his work in several galleries and shows and to create several public art works, which include two temporary public sculptures for Flying Objects 2.0 and 4.0 projects.
Steve divides his time between creating assemblages and abstract painting on wood panels. The assemblages are made by taking small hand built familiar objects and motifs and placing them in box frames to create absurd scenes that include absurd and humorous titles. Steve has recently begun creating absurd scenes out of cut painted paper pasted on heavy paper also with absurd and humorous titles. The paintings are abstracts in his Cayucos series using acrylic paint inspired by visits to the Central Coast. He and his wife Barbara currently reside in Salt Lake City, Utah.
