About Me

kevin mccain fine artis

The History

Raised in an artistic family, Kevin entertained thoughts of becoming an artist at an early age. He could often be found with a brush in his hand and a pencil tucked behind his ear. In high school Kevin took his first serious art classes; the muse took hold of him and hasn’t let go. At that time, among many other awards, he won best of show for high school art students at the Arizona State Fair and won the Congressional Artist Show. His drawings hung in the State House for two years. Kevin earned a full-ride scholarship to Utah State University, which was nationally known for its art program.

Inspired by artists like Norman Rockwell and N.C. Wyeth, Kevin was determined to study and pursue a career in illustration. After his freshman year, Kevin spent two years in Brazil where he was deeply touched by the poverty and beauty of the people and the land. Upon returning to Utah State, he was drawn to the potential for self-expression found in the fine arts and changed his major to painting. Thanks to his studies in both fields, he has been able to pursue opportunities in both illustration and fine art throughout his career.

While still in college Kevin began showing in galleries and held his first one-man show his junior year in the Greystone Gallery. Since that time Kevin’s artwork has hung in galleries all over the West, including Jackson, WY; Carmel, CA; Park City, UT; Scottsdale, AZ; and Sun Valley, ID among others. His post-college debut was in Brown’s Gallery in Boise, ID, where he remained until they closed.

His love for the Sonoran desert of his home state grew to a love of the western United States.  Kevin says his muse is “Western and will always be Western.” He loves painting the north and southwest, and particularly enjoys the opportunity to get out of civilization and into nature where he can paint and not see another soul. “There is a sense of solitude and sometimes loneliness to the vast panoramas of the Western landscape,” Kevin says. “There’s a rugged beauty of the Western landscape that I really am drawn to, whether it’s the low Sonoran deserts of Arizona, the canyonlands of Utah, the coastlines of California, or the high alpine mountains of Idaho and Wyoming. I love the north and southwest and all its many variations. It never fails to inspire me. I find more beauty in the majestic tall pines of Idaho than in any of the great cathedrals of Europe.”

Kevin’s range of skills is well suited to capture such broad and varied landscapes. He is known for his grand skies, bold color, and thought-provoking woodlands.