Fred Fellows was born in 1934 in Ponca City, Oklahoma, home to the Ponca and Osage Indians. Early influences that shaped his desire to be an artist and nurtured his love of the cowboy life included his aunt who went to Taos, New Mexico every summer to study under Nicolai Fechin and Birger Sandzen. She encouraged Fred to draw and paint at an early age. He also grew up listening to stories of the Old West from his grandmother’s brother who rode in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and later the 101 Ranch Wild West Show, as well as his grandfather who went to Tonopah and Goldfield, Nevada, during the 1905 gold rush.

Fred started out as a saddle-maker for Butler Saddlery in Paramount, California, and went on to be a cowboy on the Jamison Ranch at Monolith, California, and then an art director for Northrup Aircraft. This all led to an interesting blend of art and the West, and a lifetime of painting and sculpting.

Fred is the longest active member of the CAA, joining in 1969. He has won Gold and Silver medals in drawing, sculpture and painting. One of his proudest moments was to receive the highly coveted CAA Award at the 2007 show, voted by active members for the best overall exhibition.

He also is proud of his wife, Deborah, an accomplished sculptor, who is a member of the National Sculpture Society and inductee into the National Cowgirl Hall Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.

Source: The Cowboy Artists of America