In his early life West was encouraged by his mother to pursue his artistic interests.
When he returned from World War II in 1946, he attended art school and worked under many well-known artists including Charles E. Burtchfield and Robert Blair.
He had two other jobs as a community organizer and a postal worker as well as his budding art career.
The most notable of his art were his landscapes that serve as tributes to the architectural past of the city of Buffalo.
In an interview he said,"...art continued to be something I pursued without an ambition to be a commercial artist or wanting to make money off of it.