Stephen J. Howes was born in San Francisco in 1946. As a child he was naturally drawn to painting and drawing. His mother Lola Marie Howes was a talented artist herself and fostered this talent in the second of her four children. Stephen went to Mexico with a group called Amigos Anonymous for the first of many times as a high school student in 1963. There he discovered the old, worn architecture, stone porticoes and crumbling churches that have become so much a part of his leitmotif. He survived the 1968 "Summer of Love" working as a free lance silkscreen artist and at the Cory Art Gallery. In 1970 he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree studying at San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Art Institute. All his early work was in oil; and then with the advent of acrylic he worked in that medium for several years. He studied watercolor for the first time with Bruce MaGrew during the summer of 1982 in Guadalajara, Mexico. This was the first time he saw the brilliance that only watercolor can deliver. During the 80's Steve painted several murals under the direction of the noted Latino artist Eduardo Carillo.
His career as a professional artist took a dramatic turn when he had a chance meeting with Sister Joanne Cullimore while painting in Mexico in 1992. Under her careful supervision, Stephen's work lost its remnants of oil and acrylic technique and moved into the realm of pure transparent watercolor. Then with the help of the Ormsbys of California, Steve and his partner Marilyn started a a small watercolor business called Watercolors de Esteban. The artist felt that his name in Spanish looked more appropriate on his Latin work. They were an immediate success. In the seven years of doing these shows, he made the acquaintance of several excellent painters, chief among them Michael Bailey who has been a very helpful teacher. Stephen's "Merced River" piece was voted second in show at the Jane Burnham 14th Annual Yosemite Watercolor Workshop in 1996. At that workshop he received excellent instruction from Thomas Sgourros in the delicate art of multiple washes. Watercolors de Esteban has now become a regular on the Central Coast of California at such shows as the Capitola Art and Wine Festival, the Sunset Center Show in Carmel and the Bargetto Winery Fine Arts Festival. His work has been seen in galleries, restaurants, convention centers and government buildings all over the Monterey Bay area. In 1997 Stephen had a one man show at the Galleria de La Casa Latina at Merrill College in the University of California At Santa Cruz.
Mr. Howes is presently painting in South America. His work was recently featured in the International Fair in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He plans to return to California in June of 1999 with a great body of new work from such places as Rio De Janeiro, Ouro Preto, Buenos Aires, La Paz, and Machu Pichu.