Terry N. Turrell, sculptor and painter, was born on 4 November 1946 in Spokane, Washington. His family moved back and forth between Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and Washington State. A natural draftsman, Turrell relied on drawing to get him through the lonely days of being a shut-in after he contracted a mild case of polio at the age of eight years-old.

Turrell graduated from junior college but developed independently as an artist through various permutations. Early in his career he whittled wood, made leather handbags and batik wall hangings, and, for many years, he produced painted t-shirts which he sold at the Pike Place Market in Seattle. It wasn’t until the middle 1980s that Turrell made the successful leap into creating what he considered “art.” His first solo exhibition was held in 1986 at the M.I.A. Gallery in Seattle, Washington.

Turrell’s approach to his art is unconventional and he uses recycled materials. Considered a primitivist and an outsider artist, he has had a successful career with numerous solo shows and his work has been included in many folk art and outsider exhibitions. His work has been shown at American Primitive in New York and Modern Primitive in Atlanta and an international market for his work has developed.

The work of Terry Turrell is represented in the American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland; and the Warehouse Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Turrell wrote about his work: “On occasion, an entire vision for a piece will come to me before I start a painting or sculpture, but I consider these small gifts which do not happen very often. Rather, ideas for my work come from an endless variety of sources very little of that being art-related. Listening to music is a constant backdrop. I enjoy painting and sculpting equally. I never intentionally set out to make statements of any kind. The outcome of a given work is usually as new to me as to the viewer. The emotion created is important. I strive to create compassion, humility, humor, and a serious edge. I let both mediums choose the way and allow me to follow."