Guy Combes

GUY COMBES was born in Kenya in 1971, the son of the late wildlife artist, Simon Combes. At the age of eight, Guy moved to school in England for the remainder of his education. His interest in art developed throughout this schooling and at home where he began to learn technique from his father. After school he started at Cheltenham Art College where he experimented further with visual creativity in sculpture and three dimensional design, and then went on to study interior design at the Inchbald in London. Guy returned to Kenya in 1992 and spent the following eight years between there and England. In 2001 Guy moved to Soysambu, a 48000 acre ranch in the Rift Valley where his father was living with his second wife, Kat. Here Guy took on a management job at a tourist camp and worked towards an exhibition of paintings depicting the Swahili Coast, inspired by a visit to Zanzibar. The exhibition was at Peponi Hotel in Lamu and sold out. Guy then began working towards another exhibition in Nairobi and this was also successful. Since then Guy has been concentrating full time on painting, exhibiting and visiting various trade shows around the US. He intends to pursue painting as a career while helping with various conservation issues in Kenya, the most important of these being the development of Soysambu ranch into a protected conservancy, which will guarantee an essential wildlife corridor in the spectacular Rift Valley.