Steve Kestrel grew up in south central New Mexico at the interface of the high desert and Sacramento mountains. This edge of the Chihuahuan Desert is a land of contrasts in its ecosystems and corresponding flora & fauna. The “bones” of the land are there to see and read if motivated & curious enough to study them. With his family, he raised & trained quarter horses & worked cattle on ranches up through his college years. Kestrel now resides with his wife, Cindi, on a 62-acre “wildlife preserve” in Coloradoʼs Redstone Canyon. Describing his Colorado home, Kestrel says:

The 62 acres we live on is much like northern New Mexico with red sandstone cliffs reaching 200 feet high. We have several smaller canyons with permanent water, 1⁄2 mile of Redstone Creek with riparian vegetation such as willow & cottonwood and rugged hillsides with juniper, ponderosa pine, mountain mahogany, yucca, chamisa, sage, native grasses and wildflowers. Many of the stones that I carve in my work come from our creek bed, where they have drifted from the washed down overburden, glaciers & upstream deposits of granite, schist & andesite over many thousands, if not millions of years.

We moved here because of the landscape and the wildlife. We frequently see mule deer, coyotes, rabbits, raptors, bobcats, song birds, reptiles, amphibians and occasionally bear, mountain lion & elk. My studio is a pleasant 600’ walk from the house, under the cottonwoods & across Redstone Creek. I designed and did much of the construction of our house in 1994 & it still fits all our needs. Our location in the foothills west of Fort Collins provides solace and solitude, continuously nurturing and inspiring us in our daily lives.”

William Kerr, founder and trustee of the National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) stated that, “Steve’s objects are a never-ending source of surprise to me.... He has the ability to see into the stone & envision a unique object that then, through his artistry, emerges. The intellectual & tactile come together seamlessly in his art.” At the ‘NMWA, 'Western Visions Show’, Kestrel won the, Excellence for Artistic Merit Award in 2023, People’s Choice Award in 2007 & the Red Smith Award in 2008.

In 2023 & 2021 Kestrel won The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation Award for Sculpture-Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA & in 2020 the Bob Kuhn Wildlife Award, Sponsored by Jodie and James Rea- Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA

In 2023, 2019 & 2017 Kestrel won the James Earl Fraser Sculpture Award - Prix de West Invitational, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK

In 2017 he won the Artists Choice Award - Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale, Denver, CO

In 2014 Kestrel won the WAA Purchase Award & Silver Medal for Sculpture - Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ

Kestrel was awarded the Prix de West Purchase Award from The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum (NC&WHM) in 2013 for his stone carving, “Desert Timeline”.

In 2013 he was awarded the Purchase Award, at the Briscoe Art Museum's ,'Night of Artists Show’, for his large bronze sculpture “Desert Solitaire”.

Kestrel won the Gold Medal for Sculpture at the Phoenix Art Museum’s “The West Select” exhibition in 2011, 2012 & 2013. He was awarded the museum’s WAA Purchase Award in 2014.

Kestrel was Featured Artist at the 2011 ‘Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale’ at the National Western Stock Show, Denver, CO; in 2005 & 2008 he was awarded Best of Show & in 2017 he was awarded Artists Choice Award.

Kestrel regularly shows at: Prix de West Invitational, NC&WHM - Oklahoma City, OK; Western Visions Show, National Museum of Wildlife Art - Jackson, WY

His work is in the collections of 15 museums, including the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Denver Art Museum, The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, Gilcrease Museum, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Eiteljorg Museum, Wichita Art Museum, Woodson Art Museum, Brookgreen Gardens, Brisco Western Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum & Booth Western Art Museum.