A retired dentist from Colville, Washington, Jerry McKellar began creating bronze sculptures in 1987 and in 1997 won the "Best Sculpture/People's Choice" and "Artists' Choice Awards" at the C.M. Russell Show. His primary focus is native Americans, although early in his sculpting career, he focused on wildlife.

He has said that his background as a dentist was certainly important to his sculpture career as he worked with shaping instruments and in tedious detail. His studio is located on 22 acres of land near Colville, where he is surrounded by the wildlife that was the primary subject of his early sculpture.

He was raised on Lake Chelan in north-central Washington and became very adept at skiing. In dental school at the University of Washington, he realized that he had skill with his hands because he could finish his lab work making gold crowns and other devices faster than most of his colleagues. In 1969, he graduated and served for two years as an Army dentist in Missouri.

Borrowing some of his mother's equipment from an art class she was taking, McKellar began sketching and then working up detailed wildlife sketches on scratchboard. He also did oil painting.

However, marriage and fatherhood diverted him from his art career, but in the mid-1980s, when his children were older, he pursued his sculpture interest. One of his first pieces was for the Ducks Unlimited competition. Successful, he and his wife went on the road selling his work at art shows. Much of his work is inspired by his travels that include Alaska, Greece, and Mexico.