As a child in the small east Texas town of Royse City, Ray-Mel Cornelius began to draw as soon as he could hold a pencil.

A graduate of East Texas State University where he majored in graphic design, Ray-Mel enjoyed the strong university art program. Like many 1970s art students he was a fan of the surrealist painters Salvador Dali and Max Ernst, as well as pop artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. A big influence on his work then was the original Spider-Man artist, Steve Ditko and comics icon Jack Kirby. Today he adds David Hockney, Edward Hopper, Grant Wood, and Maynard Dixon to his list of favorite and influential painters.

Since 2001 his work has been shown in eleven one-man shows and fifty-six group exhibitions throughout the West.

After his first extended visit to New Mexico in the mid-1990s his subject matter expanded to include mountains and the related subjects he loves. Birds, bears, jackrabbits, coyotes, mountain wildflowers, and the architecture of rural New Mexico rendered in his unique and colorful style never fail to delight the viewer.

The artist divides his time between Taos, New Mexico and Dallas, Texas.

He is represented by Jane Hamilton Fine Art, Tucson, Arizona, Ro2 Art, Dallas, Texas, David Anthony Fine Art, Taos, New Mexico.

- Celeste Berteau
Taos, New Mexico