Dark Columbia Street at Night

As a child, Abeles received no art instruction in school; however, he credits the articles on artists featured in Life magazine as a major source of inspiration. He studied drawings from art books and practiced sketching daily. Searching for inspiration in his hometown of Myrtle Beach, Abeles found Brookgreen Gardens, an outdoor sculpture museum which provided him with a multitude of beautiful bronze and marble figures to sketch. He attended the University of South Carolina and completed his Master of Fine Arts at Columbia University in New York. Following his arts education and draft into military service, Abeles embarked on his career as an art educator.