Biography

EDUCATION

History

Born in 1932, in Lyons, Texas, Travis grew up in Somerville, where he graduated from high school, and went on to Blinn Junior College to get an associate degree in art and then to the University of Houston for a BFA degree. After graduation from college he entered the army. Travis spent twenty-eight months in Germany, viewing the great European art treasures.

In 1960 Travis married Betty Holt in Dallas. They have three children, Rebecca, Thomas and Kathy. In 1964, he became staff artist for the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Burke Baker Planetarium, where he worked for the next seven years.

His first project as staff artist was to design and paint an 8′ x 100′ entrance mural for the planetarium in an ultraviolet medium consisting of the moon exploration. Other murals still in the museum at the present time —the 1965 Prairie Chicken background (225′), a Big Bend National Park background (225′)and a scene from the Matador Ranch (225′).

After a trip through the hill country of Texas, Travis decided to move his family to Kerrville and paint the beautiful country and the wildlife found there. In 1990, Travis was selected to design and paint two “Shipwreck” murals consisting of the Spanish ships wrecked off the Padre Island in 1554 for the Corpus Christi museum of Science and History. In 1994, he designed and painted a 125′ X 23′ mural in the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur, Texas. Melinda Dickinson was his able assistant on this project. 1996 carried Travis to Port Isabel, Texas where he re-painted the outside mural for the Museum of the Gulf Coast. This consisted of two floors of fish, originally done in the early 1900’s. The mural contained approximately 230 different species of fish. After much research and study the project was begun. In 1998, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, again commissioned Travis to paint a 98sq ft mural of the High Plains. The fall of 2005, an individual commissioned Travis to design and paint the mural for his new home. The scene of a Louisiana Plantation was painted along a stairway leading to the second floor. Travis paintings can be found in galleries in Salado, Midland, Kingsville, Kerrville, and Fredericksburg. His work is in collections of banks and private ranches in Colorado, Texas and Mexico.

His work in print form has been shared with customers and friends all across the US.A. Travis specializes in painting wildlife because it appeals to a deep sympathy within him for wild creatures, something no words can express. He has won awards for his work, and his career has spanned over forty-seven years.

SELECTED PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS

• Annual Exhibition of Houston Artists
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
• Annual Exhibition Of Texas Painting and Sculpture
• Texas Watercolor Society
• Texas Fine Arts Association
• Annual Exhibition Of Artist of Southeast Texas

SELECTED PUBLIC/PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:

• Museum of Natural Science – Houston
• Library of Congress
• Beaumont Art Museum
• Museum of the Gulf Coast, Port Arthur, Texas
• Museum of Science and History, Corpus Christi, Texas