Born in Clarksville, Texas, the son of pioneers, Lewis Woods Teel was a commercial artist who became a selftaught landscape and pastel portrait painter. He is known primarily for his realistic, atmospheric desert landscapes.
Beginning in 1916, Teel lived in El Paso, Texas, where he made a living drawing pastel portraits and designing magazine covers. In 1927, on the advice of Taos, New Mexico, painter Joseph Henry Sharp, Teel adopted desert landscapes as his main subject. He also operated the Desert Shop, a gallery for local artists.
In the late 1920s and 1930s, Teel often traveled and painted in southern Arizona. In 1928 he participated in the famous Texas Wildflower Exhibit in San Antonio. Teel’s work can be found in the McKee Foundation in El Paso, Texas. He was a member of New York’s Salmagundi Club and the Texas Fine Arts Association.
