Benjamin Fay Brode spent his early years exploring the sleepy countryside of San Diego County. There, he developed a great love for the natural beauty of California. The son of artists, Brode was encouraged to be creative and engage life with an artistic sensibility.

Throughout his career Brode exhibited mastery in many fields from graphic design to fine furniture and cabinet making. In 1998 he began the singular pursuit of painting with oils. Inspired by both early California impressionism and contemporary landscape painters, his style reflects the influences of George Innes, Forrest Moses and Wolf Kahn. His paintings have been shown in Santa Barbara and collected around the world. 

From 2012 – 2014 Brode primarily focused on the Big Sur wilderness. The sketches and paintings from his sojourns are a part of the collaboration with Thomas Steinbeck for the book: In Search of the Dark Watchers. 
Brode’s work is in private collections in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.