The only child of Ramon and Julia Camargo, Elena was born into a family of diverse artistic talent on May 2,1942 in San Fernando, CA. Elena’s maternal great-grandmother, Julia Steelman Nichols, was a scientist, a published poet, songwriter, and a noted artist. She and her husband, Dr. W. T. Nichols, of Glendale, CA, were patrons of the arts and held many art exhibitions in their home in the 1920's and 30's. Among their many artists friends was the now renowned Early California Plein Air painter, Granville Redmond [1871-1935.] Elena’s grandfather, silent film actor Hosea Steelman, was production assistant to famed movie director, C.B. DeMille. Elena's uncle. Henery Steelman, was stunt double for Mary Pickford, and her mother, Julia, was a noted pioneer Hollywood stuntwoman. It was through the family friendship with DeMille and the legendary silent screen star, Charlie Chaplain, that the Steelman family became lifelong friends with DeMille and deaf artist, Granville Redmond, who coached Chaplain in pantomime. One of Elena’s earliest childhood memories is that of drifting off to sleep while gazing at an oil painting of the sea by Redmond.
In 1963 Elena tried her hand at oil painting. However, for various domestic reasons she retired her brushes for nearly forty years. Elena began painting again in 2002, and with the encouragement of her husband, Dr. William Kern, she opened Four Corners Fine Art Gallery in Idyllwild, California, in 2003...and there among the pines and babbling brook she found her heart where it had always been...in painting.
Elena's motto is: "It's never too late to become what you might have been..."
" The highest tribute paid to an artist is the reflection of man's noblest work...to inspire."
Granville Redmond