Philadelphia-born painter Inez McCombs knew how to stay busy. She was a self-taught artist While she did study at the Colarossi in Paris, the school had no teachers, only continuous models, so McCombs was a self-taught artist. Additionally, McCombs took a human anatomy class at Bellevue Hospital, in trade for teaching Fine Art classes to her teacher at her studio. While studying in Paris, she would attend a local coffee shop, where she met Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce, and she even dog-sat for American painter, Abraham Rattner.

McCombs may have only drawn portraits in Paris, but after moving to New Hope in 1927, she was inspired by the Bucks County Landscapes. She did an entire series entitled Profiles of a Small Town. In New Hope, she established the first permanent gallery called the New Hope Gallery. This gallery was meant for local artists to have an outlet to sell their art. In 1964, she moved to Lambertville, where she lived out the majority of the rest of her life.

After marrying her husband, James McCombs, in 1931, and having children Michael and Rebecca, they spent some time in the Virgin Islands. Because of family illness, they made several trips to the Virgin Islands for the climate. There, she painted the natives and the town at night. After one of her husband’s illnesses, she quit her work in New York in commercial art and book and magazine illustrations to take care of him. This is when both her and her husband started experimenting with decorations in metal leaf.

Along with her paintings, commercial art, illustrations, and metal leaf, she also spent time pursuing fashion design in Paris. While there, she was the Paris Art Correspondent for the Philadelphia Public Ledger. Among her busy life, she still made to time to garden, which was one of her passions.