From the start C. G. Simonds knew he wanted to be an artist. Born in 1939 in San Jose, California, he attended San Jose State College from 1957 to 1964 and received a B.A. in Painting. He continued his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received an M.A. in Sculpture in 1967. He went on to teach sculpture at the California College of Arts and Crafts, in Oakland from 1967 to 1973. He then taught at California State College Stanislaus, in Turlock, in 1973 to 1974 while showing his work at the James Willis Gallery in San Francisco. In 1975 he married Bibbi Lee, a Norwegian native, and moved to C.G.’s rural property in Mendocino County where they built a house and a barn-studio and spent the next seven years living and working off-the-grid.

In 1983 C. G. and Bibbi moved to France where they bought and renovated Château de Lesvault, a small château in Burgundy and ran it as an inn for 14 years while working as artists. C. G. made monumental sculpture at Mark Di Suvero’s sculpture studios La Vie des Formes in the shipyard at Chalon sur Saône until 2008. In 1998 their inn closed and they went to work in Tuscany, Italy, and Tacoma, Washington after which they moved back to France in 2003, settling once again in Burgundy. All during this time C. G.’s work was represented by Galerie Bruno Mory, and he saw his sculptures placed all over France from Le Havre to Valence.

C. G. and Bibbi moved back to the United States in 2019 and now reside in Concord, California.

In 2024 Art-Lab City opened a retrospective show of C. G. Simonds’ sculpture at Château de Jonquières, in Jonquières, France, which will run until 2030.

Visit the site: JONQUIERES 2024_CG SIMONDS - Art Lab City

C.G. and Bibbi celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2025.

At his studio in Concord, California, C.G. continues to draw and paint on a daily basis.