A wildlife artist who spent most of his time in Kenya, Africa, Simon Combes painted primarily African wildlife in landscape, especially buffalo and cats.

Combes moved to Kenya with his family at age six. He served in the British military in Kenya. While in the service he would sketch local people in his spare time. Combes tells a story of when he was on leave in Nairobi and he heard of a couple that were looking for two Masai portrait paintings. Simon Combes purchased two postcards and painted the portraits from them. They were the first works he ever sold.

In Kenya Combes headed the airborne unit where he trained paratroopers and translated military instructions into Swahili. In 1969, while still in the military he had a near...