Born in Bastrop, Salinas was reared in San Antonio where he was apprenticed to Robert Wood and Jose Arpa. Salinas resided for brief periods in Houston and Austin but spent most of his life in San Antonio. He served in the U.S. Army (1943-45), assigned to Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, where his principle duties consisted of painting and other special projects. In the 1950s his landscapes portraying the Texas Hill Country became very popular. Among the earlier purchasers were Congressman Sam Rayburn, J. Frank Dobie, President Lyndon Johnson, and Governor John Connally. Numerous reproductions were made of his works, and his paintings once hung in the national capitols of both the United States and Mexico. President Johnson commissioned Salinas to paint a Texas landscape that was to have been presented to President John F. Kennedy on the day he was assassinated. Salinas died in San Antonio and was buried in the city. Exhibitions: Exhibition of Paintings by Texas Artists, J. W. Young Galleries, Chicago (1940); Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin (1947 one-man); San Antonio Local Artists Annual Exhibition (1953); Coppini Academy of Fine Arts, San Antonio (1958 award, 1959); Painters of Texas 1900-1950, Museums of Abilene (1989); Survey of Texas Artists 1890-1990, Longview Museum and Arts Center (1991); Images of Texas 1880-1950, Art Center, Waco (1994); Hock Shop Collection: Rediscovering Texas Artists of the Past, Museum of the Big Bend, Alpine (1997). Murals: Buckhorn Hall of Horns, San Antonio. Collections: Austin History Center, Austin Public Library (lent by Austin Art League); Governor’s Mansion, Austin; J. Wayne Stark University Center Galleries, Texas A&M University, College Station; Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock; Stark Museum, of Art, Orange; Buckhorn Hall of Horns and Fort Sam Houston Officers Club, San Antonio; B Burleson Hall, Baylor University, Waco; Wichita Falls Museum and Art Center. Source: Texas Painters, Sculptors & Graphic Artists by John and Deborah Powers