Born and raised in Tempe, Arizona, Nelson studied to be an architect earning a degree from Arizona State University. After practicing for 15 years, during which time he owned a successful firm and won numerous awards, Nelson made the pivotal decision to leave the field in 1980 to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time artist. Nelson credits his life-long love of both art and math with his dual-career path of architecture and fine art. His mother, also a painter, was his earliest influence. As a teenager in the “psychedelic ‘60s”, the only art posters his mother allowed Nelson to hang in his bedroom where those he painted himself. Later, as an architecture student, he had time for very few electives. The first one he chose was a watercolor course with a much-admired professor of architecture who Nelson says painted like “magic.” Discouraged by not painting as well as his teacher, he effectively gave up and stayed focused on architecture. Years later, however, his burning desire to paint returned and he resumed watercolor classes, this time with a higher degree of dedication and more realistic goals. It was during this phase of training when Nelson developed his signature style which he credits most to the principle of “gestalt.” At the same time Nelson became increasingly disillusioned with architecture and the increasing business demands of owning his firm. Finally, in 1990, he and his wife made the decision to make a major lifestyle change and move their family, including the seven children, to Northern Idaho. Leading galleries in the U.S. have sought to represent his work, recognizing his unique combination of incredible detail and big, bold and graphic images. Nelson’s work is in collections across the United States including the Whitney Museum of Western Art, Cody, Wyoming, The Booth Western Art Museum, the Coca Cola Company, the Dallas Cowboys NFL football team, The George Lucas Foundation, and others. "Nelson Boren has developed a distinctive trademark style. Boren's watercolors present an intimate, close-up view of the life and trappings of the modern American cowboy. His large-scale compositions give insight into an unfamiliar lifestyle and create a singular mood. 'I enjoy capturing the weathered look of old leather and rusty spurs', he says. 'I see history in these elements of cowboy life.'" - Donald J. Hagerty, LEADING the WEST, One Hundred Contemporary Painters and Sculptors, 1997. Selected ExhibitionsLegacy Gallery Jackson Show - 2006 - 2015America Western Art Classic - 2008, 2009 Scottsdale Art Auction - 2007 - 2014 Buffalo Bill Art Show – 1998 - 2014, Cody, Wyoming Whitney Gallery of Western Art at the Buffalo Bill Historic Museum - Cody, WyomingMuseum of Nebraska Art - Spirit of the Great Plains 1998Booth Western Art Museum, Atlanta, Georgia. 24’ mural for the Jackson Hole Airport, Jackson, Wyoming. Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg, Arizona - Brush With Reality Show 1999 Art of the Southwest Traveling Exhibition - Javitts Center New York & Minneapolis 1989 Best of Scottsdale - Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, Arizona 1989-90 1997 Reno Rodeo Poster Artist - Reno, Nevada Other Side of the West (OSW) National Museum tour 1999-2004 including the following venues: The Phipen Museum - Prescott, Arizona - 2001, The Arkansas Art Center - Little Rock, Arkansas - 2001, Colorado Springs Fine Art Center - Colorado Springs, Colorado - 2002, Grace Museum - Abilene, Texas - 2002, MSC Forsyth Center Galleries - College Station, Texas - 2002, Museum of Texas Tech University - Lubbock, Texas - 2003, Museum of the Southwest - Midland, Texas - 2004, Philip & Muriel Berman Museum of Art - Collegeville, Pennsylvania - 2004, Bergstrom-Mahler Museum - Neenah, Wisconsin - 2004 • Sky Harbor Airport - Phoenix, Arizona - 2004