High Plains Neighbors Wood carving 14 1/2" x 32" x 14 1/2" 2" wood base A sculptor, painter, ceramist and leather carver, John Kittelson (b. 1930) was a self-taught artist who was born on a dirt farm in Arlington, South Dakota. As a child, John's earliest exposure to sculpture was playing with wood toys hand-carved by his father. He later traveled to California and then to the Black Hills, where he worked as a horse trainer and bronc rider. John and his wife settled in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he worked as a carpenter and dabbled in painting and wood carving while working as a saddle maker. In 1965, Kittelson sent in slides of his carvings to the Cowboy Artists of America and became one of the first fifteen founding members.