Biography

“At my very core, I’m a storyteller and I strive to infuse my paintings with those stories that excite me. Stories of the American west are always front and center. Cowboys, cattle, action scenes and moments of quiet contemplation are what I love. The authenticity of historical scenes or telling the story of today’s working cowboy is essential to my work. It’s really all about what the painting has to say that makes it personal and unique. Most days I can be found in painting in my studio, but I also love to paint en plein air. Since 2009, I have made my home in Prescott, Arizona, in the very heart of the subject matter that fills my soul.

I’m proud that I’ve made my living, but also my life in Art. As long as I can remember, I’ve had a sketchbook in my hands, surrounding myself in nature and drawing the world around me. Growing up in an Ohio steel town, I knew even then that I would make my home in the American West as an artist. I attended Kent State University to study fine art, but changed my major to illustration when I figured out I could support myself through art, right out of school. For the next 25 years I made my living as an illustrator, creating images for fortune 500 companies and magazines across the US. It was a great career and I loved it, but always yearned to become a fine artist, making pictures that moved me, and others who saw them. Along the way, I took classes and workshops from the best fine artists teaching today, and in 2008, realized my dream to become a full-time fine artist. Today, my work is found in collections throughout the United States and Europe.”
-Steve Atkinson

Exhibits & Shows
Bosque Art Center, Clifton, TX
Grand Canyon Conservancy’s Celebration of Art Illume Gallery West, Philipsburg, MT
Mountain Oyster Club Western Art Show & Sale, Tucson, AZ
Oil Painters of America

National and Regional shows
Paint the Parks Competition and Show Pearce Museum, Corsicana, TX
Phippen Museum, Prescott, AZ
Portrait Society of America
Salmagundi Club, NYC
Trailside Galleries

Accomplishments
• Juror of Awards for the BoldBrush Art Contest and Exhibit, January 2025
• Member of Jury Selection Committee for the 2025 Phippen Museum Western Art Show & Sale
• Juror of awards for the 2024 Oil Painters of America Western Regional Show
• Second in Drawing, Phippen Museum Western Art Show and Sale, 2024
• First place in the International Bold Brush August 2023 online art contest
• Magazine cover for Art of the West, May/June 2023
• Artist Features in Art of the West magazine and Western Art Collector magazine, May/June 2023
• Phippen Foundation Award, Phippen Museum Western Art Show and Sale, 2023, 2016, 2015
• Juror, 2023 Congressional Art Competition with United States Legislative District 2 Representative Eli Crane
• Finalist, Portrait Society of America, Members Art Competition with Animals as the Subject, 2022
• People’s Choice, Phippen Museum Hold Your Horses! Show and Sale, 2022
• First in Watercolor, Third in Drawing, Phippen Museum Western Art Show and Sale, 2022
• Best Body of Work, First in Drawing, First in Watercolor, Phippen Museum Western Art Show and Sale, 2021
• Published in International Artist Magazine, December 2020/January 2021
• Commissioned by Penguin Random House for six western book covers, 2019-2020
• Juror of Awards, Oil Painters of America, Online Showcase, December 2019
• Event Poster Art for Prescott Frontier Days® World’s Oldest Rodeo®, 2024, 2023, 2021, 2020, 2018, 2013
• Event Poster Art for Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering, 2024, 2018, 2015, 2013, 2011