The Artist

THE ARTIST

Steven Mayes was born November 7, 1939 in Glendale California. The family lived for eight or nine more years in Los Angeles, before moving to Wichita Kansas, which was more centrally located to his father's jobs.

The family would travel during the summers to the various job/construction sites where the father's employer sent him.

Steven would often visit these jobsites and would later work for his father during his high school and college years.

The structure of the wooden cooling towers made a great impression on Steven. Those experiences along with the availability of construction materials at home gave him the opportunity to construct many play-structures, wooden go-karts with gasoline engines and a two level tree/play house were some of his projects. Even during his earliest years he envisioned building an airplane using an orange crate and a spring from a window shade (the dream was partially fulfilled by his building approximately one third of a two seat Volksplane in the mid 1980s).

His junior high school years were spent drawing pictures of cars, airplanes and house elevations. Unfortunately designing these items professionally required a strong knowledge of mathematics, not Steven's strong suit.

As a sophomore in college, on a whim, he tried three art courses in. That was it! Starting in 1958 he was an art major. He completed the BFA and BAE degrees in 1963 and completed an MFA degree in 1965 at Wichita State University.

In 1965 he married Pam Shelden, also an artist and in 1966 Steven took an art position at Southern State College in Springfield, SD. His teaching career lasted over thirty-six years, which included one college and three universities. In 2002 he and Pam retired to Colorado for three and one-half years, culminating in a permanent residence in Amarillo, TX.

Steven has made and exhibited his art for forty-eight years. Some of his works are in several public and private collections across the U.S.


THE ARTIST Steven Mayes was born November 7, 1939 in Glendale California. The family lived for eight or nine more years in Los Angeles, before moving to Wichita Kansas, which was more centrally located to his father's jobs. The family would travel during the summers to the various job/construction sites where the father's employer sent him. Steven would often visit these jobsites and would later work for his father during his high school and college years. The structure of the wooden cooling towers made a great impression on Steven. Those experiences along with the availability of construction materials at home gave him the opportunity to construct many play-structures, wooden go-karts with gasoline engines and a two level tree/play house were some of his projects. Even during his earliest years he envisioned building an airplane using an orange crate and a spring from a window shade (the dream was partially fulfilled by his building approximately one third of a two seat Volksplane in the mid 1980s). His junior high school years were spent drawing pictures of cars, airplanes and house elevations. Unfortunately designing these items professionally required a strong knowledge of mathematics, not Steven's strong suit. As a sophomore in college, on a whim, he tried three art courses in. That was it! Starting in 1958 he was an art major. He completed the BFA and BAE degrees in 1963 and completed an MFA degree in 1965 at Wichita State University. In 1965 he married Pam Shelden, also an artist and in 1966 Steven took an art position at Southern State College in Springfield, SD. His teaching career lasted over thirty-six years, which included one college and three universities. In 2002 he and Pam retired to Colorado for three and one-half years, culminating in a permanent residence in Amarillo, TX. Steven has made and exhibited his art for forty-eight years. Some of his works are in several public and private collections across the U.S.

Home	Artist's Statement	Exhibitions	Portfolio	Links	Contact