Trudy Lee Estes was born in Texas and grew up in Pasadena, California. Art has been the main focus and interest of her life since childhood. She has been a commercial artist all her adult life. Through the 60's and into the 80's, she was a surrealist oil painter. In 1997, Trudy began painting wildlife, a dream she had for many years. She is now a full-time wildlife artist specializing in wolves and has won many awards for her paintings.
"I paint what I know and what I love," she says. "My personal relationships with wolves and coyotes have contributed to my love for them." Her first encounter with wolves was over 20 years ago, and her love and fascination for them has grown through the years.
She and her husband, Howie, live in Glendale, Oregon. "We share our land with a wide variety of wildlife. We live very close to nature. To me, painting wolves and coyotes is a celebration of life," Trudy says.
Mike Neuwirth, Art Appraiser, Studio City, California, commented that Trudy "paints the wolves from the inside out." Tonya Littlewolf, founder and director of Wolf Mountain Sanctuary in Lucerne Valley, says that Trudy captures the spirit of wolves better than any artist she knows. These kind of comments are heard frequently at shows where the artist exhibits her work.
