In 1940, Simon Combes was born in “Wilderness Cottage,” in Shaftsbury, England, and from that day in June, the wilderness always attracted him. His first adventures began early when, in 1946, his parents immigrated to farm in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, a magical place for a young boy. Simon loathed his years at boarding school in Nakuru and at Duke of York in Nairobi, always longing for the freedom of the bush. While managing a 2,000 acre farm when he was seventeen, he was drafted into six months compulsory military training after already applying for appointment in the Kings African Rifles. He was accepted into 4 KAR but having just finished his training was sent to Uganda where one of his duties was to teach basic etiquette and rugby to a young Idi Amin. He attended Sandhurst Military Academy and returned to Kenya to join the 3rd Kings African Rifles in time for Kenya’s Independence.
Simon’s life was rich with great adventures and wildlife encounters.
From being lost in a blizzard while crossing the Altai Mountains in Mongolia and flying into the jungles of Venezuela to sketching Bengal Tigers atop a howdah on a swaying elephant in India, his experiences and observations led him to develop his exacting artistic style, rendering his subjects with such depth and exquisite detail.
Not only a man of the arts, but an avid conservationist as well, Simon had recently appointed Kenya Representative and Project Director for Rhino Rescue Trust. He sat on the boards of several wildlife conservation organizations and raised, through his art, many thousands of dollars for their causes.
On Sunday, December 12, 2004, atop a beautiful ancient volcano near his home in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, Simon’s life was tragically taken by one of the wild animals he so lovingly portrayed in his paintings. He never “gathered moss” and now he has come home. He is survived by his wife Kat, his children, Cindy and Guy, his sister, Jenny all of Kenya and his former wife Susie of England.
