Steve Kestrel grew up in New Mexico, raising and training quarter horses. He resides with his wife, Cindi, on a 62-acre “wildlife preserve” in Colorado’s Redstone Canyon.
James Earl Fraser Sculpture Award- 2017 & Prix de West Purchase Award- 2013 National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Purchase Award
Gold Medal for Sculpture ,‘The West Select’- 2011, 2012 & 2013 Phoenix Art Museum
Artists Choice Award- 2017, Featured Artist- 2011, ‘Best of Show’- 2005 & 2008 - Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale
Purchase Award,‘ Night of Artists Show’- 2013 Briscoe Art Museum
People’s Choice Award-2007 & Red Smith Award-2008- National Museum of Wildlife Art
Click on the images below to view Steve Kestrel's artwork available for sale at this year's show.
Mourning Stretch (two doves)
Pondhawks At Waterline
Monument for the Last Horned Lizard
This piece came about after I was going through an old box of photos that I had taken 30 years ago of two young doves in our backyard. They were so trusting and stayed for about 10 minutes while we quietly watched them at a short distance. They each in turn stretched their wings & fanned their tails, allowing me to take numerous photos of their graceful interactions. In this sculpture I wanted to convey their calmness & elegant beauty while using the grass as a subtle design element which flows beneath, tying them together compositionally in a hopefully interesting way.
Of course the title is a play on words, they being mourning doves. I’ve admired this species since I was a kid growing up in southern New Mexico, where they would settle around our horse corrals to pick up the extra grain left behind. I also admire that they are generally monogamous with both parents incubating & caring for the young; and last, they are symbols of peace the world over.
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