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Stephen E. Lee

Stephen was born in Flagstaff, Arizona, into a family with roots deep in the Southwest. He was exposed to ranch life as a child and began working as a ranch cowboy as a young man. Stephen’s introduction to metalworking began with the need to shoe his own horses. Working in front of an anvil developed into a career in ornamental ironwork. In turn, a desire for greater artistic expression led Stephen to explore sculpting. His sculpture depicts contemporary cowboy life.


Stephen’s awards and honors include:
2012
Sharlot Hall Museum (Prescott, AZ)
Evening at Sharlot’s Place, raffle of “Peavine”, work created for the Museum
2009
Sharlot Hall Museum
Featured artist, Evening at Sharlot’s Place
2008
Calgary Stampede Western Art Sales Salon
Best New Artist: 3-Dimensional
Artists' Choice: 3-Dimensional
Challenge New Mexico (Santa Fe)
Second Place - Fine Art
Phippen Museum Art Show & Sale (Prescott,AZ)
Southwest Art Magazine Award
2007
Challenge New Mexico
Second Place - Fine Art
National Celebration of Western Art (The Cow Palace)
Third Place - Sculpture
2006
Calgary Stampede Western Art Sales Salon
Best Presentation
Challenge New Mexico
Best of Show
2005
Calgary Stampede Western Art Sales Salon
Best Presentation
2004
Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Art Show & Sale (Tucson)
Olaf Wieghorst Award for Best of Show

Today, Stephen divides his time between sculpting, architectural blacksmithing and tending to his New Mexico ranch. He still shoes his own horses.

Although largely self-taught, Stephen is grateful for the opportunities he has had to study with some of today’s great sculptors including Mehl Lawson, Victor Issa, John Coleman and Veryl Goodnight. The community of artists he has come to know have pushed him to excel and continue to be a source of inspiration.

Stephen’s ironwork was featured in the following publications:

Architectural Ironwork, Dona Z. Meilach (2007)

“Themed Railings Can Equal Higher Earnings”,
Dona Z. Meilach, (2006) http://www.thefabricator.com/article/consumables/theme-railings-can-equal-higher-earnings