Ben Turner was born and educated in New Mexico.  At 18 he began his art career with a syndicated cartoon strip “Jerry and Jake.”  He continued studying, teaching and painting his entire life.  As a young painter in the 1930s Ben studied  with many famous artists of the time such as Couse, Berninghaus, Sharp, and Blumenshein. During the war he painted and worked as an artist in the Army Air Corps, sometimes painting “cheese-cake” on the noses of World War II bombers.

In 1950, Ben moved his family to Redstone lured by the mountain landscapes. This was two years before Frank Kistler began his grand Redstone development project.  His studio/home was located on the hill above the village.  He painted, taught and played in the Crystal Valley for 16 years. 

Many winters were spent in Mazatlan, where Ben painted seascapes.  In 1966, while returning from Mazatlan, Ben suffered a heart attack and died at age 58.