Cory Steffen was born and raised in Southern California to a family of creatives. He first gained a love for the visual arts while a young teenager working primarily in pen and ink. His interests then shifted to printmaking with an emphasis on relief, which would ultimately lead to a degree in Fine Art from Westmont College in Santa Barbara.
Starting out his career as a painter, Cory gradually shifted into a career in graphic design. For the last ten years, he has worked full time as a graphic designer and found the evolution of technology, specifically the computer to be a constant source of inspiration and extremely useful as an artistic tool. On occasion, the artist will use the computer as a sketching medium for a fine art piece, or building composites of different images that inspire him to create other works.
But for all that technology offers, Cory finds that there is no substitute for a physical paintbrush and tubes of paint. From landscapes to motorcycles, he finds inspiration in variety, always working with different media and subject matter, never content to be known only as a printmaker, painter or designer. From oak dotted hills to detailed portraits he truly believes that they’re all just “scapesâ€, the interplay of light and shadow, temperature and distance. And from clouds to relief prints he looks for meaning in the everyday things we see. Some days he’s a painter, some a designer, but he always feels blessed that he’s able to simply make a living as an artist.
Cory has a lovely wife and three beautiful children that keep him young at heart and always inspired and active.