Walter Erra Hubert was born in raised in Southern California. His education and formal training as a painter began at an early age, and culminated in a Master's degree in Painting and Drawing from The Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. While still in school, Walter began showing his work at several prestigious galleries in Los Angeles, eventually finding homes as part of the permanent private holdings of Otis Chandler, Tom Brokaw, the Los Angeles Times, AT&T and many other important collections. Over the years Walter’s creative output has also been featured at the Los Angeles County Art Museum, the San Diego Museum of Art, and the Newport Art Museum. In addition to his painting accomplishments, Walter is an internationally recognized lecturer on art and design. He has been the keynote presenter at the International Festival of Flowers in Belfast, Ireland, as well as a guest lecturer at the San Francisco De Young Museum of Fine Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Walter’s bestselling book of floral photography, Naked: Flowers Exposed (HarperCollins) has become a seminal text for many college and University photography courses throughout the country. Walter founded one of the most successful design studios in the United States, Silver Birches in 1976. He and his company are sought after for their cutting edge design aesthetic, and for creating many of the most spectacular and innovative environmental installations throughout the country. He has worked as designer and art director on fashion shoots for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Gianni Versace, and continues to design and produce large scale events for Steven Spielberg, Bruce Springsteen, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dustin Hoffman, Joel Silver, Jennifer Aniston, Tom Cruise, DreamWorks and The Disney Companies to name but a few. Walter currently divides his time between his studio in Pasadena, California and his Sermoneta studio in Lazio.