Steve Schaps became interested in art at the early age of four when he lived just a few houses down from an art school in Denver Colorado. There he pestered the teachers and artists with questions until they finally gave him a brush, paint, and a canvass to keep him busy. Later, he received an oil paint set for Christmas and has been painting ever since.

His parents moved when he was seven years old. When the new phone was installed, Steve was quite impressed by all the gadgets and wires the technician had so he gave Steve a bundle of multi-colored wires. His father saw his interest and gave Steve some old radios which lead to his career in electronics. However, he continued painting when time allowed, and now that he is retired, he dedicates much of his time to learn and create art.

“I am most impressed with the idea of having a legacy, something that lives beyond me. I was successful at engineering disk drives which were manufactured and distributed worldwide, but after a few years they became obsolete and were scrapped. That was a shock to me and brought my attention back to art. I want to produce quality paintings because they will gain in value and become a treasure over time. I am impressed with the art of Maynard Dixon, which reveals the history of the west through such an enjoyable medium.”

Steve enjoys hiking and exploring trails on his dirt bike in the Colorado Mountains in the summer and skiing and ice-skating in the winter. His hobbies are oil painting, astronomy, and writing. He likes to spend weekends with his three children.

GET THE LEAD OUT:
Lead free paint is guaranteed on all of my paintings. Lead paint cracks, flakes, and turns to a powder after a few years and becomes a health and safety risk.
Many of the foreign copies, mass produced paintings, and paintings before 1978 contain high levels of lead. Don't let those bright colors dazzle you, new US paint formulas are just as bright and are lead free. I use the newest and best materials: paints that are safe and won't crack, flake, fade, or shift color, and are environmentally friendly.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE ART:
Artistic Paintings contain a quality that I call Gemstone. A Gemstone in a painting is an area of the painting that can stand alone. For example, it can be cut out and placed into a ring setting or a bracelet or a broach as in Monet’s “Bodmer Oak” and “Waterlilies, Green Reflection”. In some cases, the entire painting is a gemstone. For example every area of Cezanne’s painting "Bridge Over the Marneat Creteil,1888” is striking, could be cut out and placed into a broach. I would call this a holographic gemstone.
A gemstone can be abstract. The works of Picasso may not reveal a tangible gemstone, but the overall compositions are gemstones, and cubism added to this gemstone quality. Also, Look at the works of Jackson Pollock or Andy Warhol and no one area seems to stand alone as a gemstone. Their originality, spontaneity, and boldness is the gemstone and this gemstone is revealed in their individual works.
Comparing an original work to a copy or a print is like comparing a natural diamond to cubic zirconia. The diamond is rare, unique, and is worth one hundred times more than zirconium. Also, a diamond will appreciate in value whereas zirconium will depreciate. Likewise, original oil paintings always appreciate in value whereas copies depreciate. The purchasing public can guide art by purchasing original oil paintings and by not purchasing copies.