Steve became interested in drawing and sketching at a very young age, first grade perhaps, and stayed with that interest through his secondary education — experimenting with various art forms and media. In college he drifted toward graphic art and design as art editor of the university yearbook. After graduation he maintained an interest in art, but was not actively engaged in painting or otherwise creating art.

It was not until some four-plus decades later that a workshop from renowned Mexican artist Efrén Gonzáles inspired him to start painting once again. For the past decade he has been studying under the tutelage of Maestro Javier Ramos in Ajijic, Mexico.

Much of Steve’s work has been inspired by his experiences overseas with the U.S. Foreign Service. More recently he has focused his paintings on the U.S. desert southwest and Mexico. He and his wife currently spend about six months each in Tucson, Arizona and Ajijic, Mexico.   

All proceeds from the sales of Steve's paintings are donated to the Aaron S. Moore Scholarship Fund at Arizona State University — a fellowship/fund in his late son’s name to advance the field of Asian history. His son was a professor of modern Japanese and East Asian history at ASU, until his passing in 2019.