A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Steve has long been interested in art and architecture in the natural and built environment. He started painting at an early age, in the 1960’s, studying under local artists and briefly under nationally acclaimed watercolorist Elliot O’Hara. Steve often painted on-site local
abandoned and working industrial areas in the Pensacola, FL & Mobile, AL areas. In 1973, he received a Bachelor of Architecture from Auburn University and is a Georgia Registered Architect with extensive commercial and residential architectural experience. He founded his own architectural firm, Kippels Associates, in 1988 in Atlanta, Georgia and moved his practice to Greene County, GA in 2004 and continues to practice today. He has designed several well-known landmark commercial buildings in the local area.
Steve has continued to paint watercolors and oils for personal edification and paints with visiting instructional artists and with a studio group of watercolorists and oil painters every week in the area. He is a Signature member of the Georgia Watercolor Society and a member of The Artisans Village Guild.
His artwork is displayed in the TAV Gallery, Eatonton, GA and Festival Hall Gallery and BankSouth Discovery Center, Greensboro, GA. Steve’s work has been included in Georgia Watercolor Society’s National Exhibitions since 2017 and many recent GWS Members Exhibitions. He is currently on the GWS
Board of Directors as Communications Chair and Co-Chair for the 2024 Member Exhibition at Festival Hall, Greensboro, GA. Steve was one of the invited artists in the 2020, 2022 and 2023 Olmsted Georgia Color Plein-Air Competitions.