Raised in a Colorado home filled with original art by Southwest painters, Kent Lemon became a landscape and still life artist after experimenting with pre-med studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder.In 1980, he went to New York City at the encouragement of Denver artist John Zahourek who was teaching at the Parsons School of Design. There, he spent nearly two years studying painting and illustration but then decided his most valuable lessons could come from apprenticing with artists whom he admired.He returned to Colorado and spent several afternoons a month with Denver artists Mark Daily and Ned Jacob. He was also influenced by Michael Lynch and Kang Cho and particularly by paintings of Joaquin Sorolla, 1863-1923, whose family he befriended and stayed with in Spain.His goal has been to create uncluttered paintings with a single idea behind them. He has also worked as a professional illustrator for "The Weekly Standard," a conservative magazine for which he does caricatures.