Renowned Southwestern artist Ed Mell has died after a long illness. He was 81.
The Phoenix-based painter and sculptor was known for his works inspired by the landscape and culture of the Colorado Plateau and Sonoran Desert.
Mell was born in Phoenix in 1942 and graduated from the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., in 1967. He then migrated to New York City to become art director of a major advertising agency.
But Mell missed the desert and soon returned to Phoenix. He left his job to pursue art full-time a few years later.
Western Art Collector Magazine remembered Mell in a Facebook post Thursday, saying the influential painter and sculptor helped define a new age of Southwest Modernism
“Ed was once called Arizona's Son because he was from the Grand Canyon State and also because he knew how to capture Arizona's landscapes with their dramatic forms and intense light," the publication wrote.
Mell is survived by his wife and son.