Ed Mell was born in 1942 and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona as an avid amateur artist inspired by the artwork of his older brother Frank, who drew World War II aircraft carriers and soldiers. Ed himself was obsessed with designing model cars, and his skill at sketching his friends' cars eventually landed him at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California.

After four years of study, Mell landed a lucrative job in November, 1967, as a junior art director at Kenyon and Eckhardt, a major New York advertising firm. However, the corporate climate stifled his creativity, and Mell soon opened Sagebrush Studios in New York with fellow illustrator Skip Andrews. The studio enjoyed immediate success, landing impressive corporate clients like RCA, Cheerios, and layouts in Esquire and Psychology Today magazines.

However, despite such good fortune, Mell simply was fed up with the hectic pace of city life and, closing the doors on his New York life, Mell returned to his beloved Arizona, first becoming a teacher on the Hopi reservation for the 1970 summer session, then resettling in Phoenix. This is where Mell found his "voice" as an artist and began painting his famous landscapes. His technique and subject matter has evolved over the years, and Mell has earned a permanent place among the greats of the American Art scene: his art has been exhibited in nine museum shows, including the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art, Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Mesa Southwest Museum, and the Rockwell-Corning Museum of Modern Art. More than 40 corporate and private collections have acquired his paintings and sculptures, and his life as an artist has been chronicled in major art publications. His biography, "Beyond the Visible Terrain: The Art of Ed Mell," was published in l996. His art also has been featured prominently in "Leading the West: 100 Contemporary Painters & Sculptors" and "Place of Spirit: Canyon de Chelly, 100 Years of Painting and Photography."