ABOUT THE ARTIST...
Blankenship discovered his love for creating over 40 years ago sitting at the base of his father's easel. As a young boy his tools were watercolors, pencils, pen and ink and traditional leather tooling. As a young man his curiosity with oils, acrylics and sculpting began to emerge.
Raised on the plains of the north Texas panhandle, his painting inevitably began to depict the vast horizons and spacial infinity of that part of the country. The endless stretches of panhandle skies carry through even in his work today. Upon graduation from Oklahoma University School of Fine Art in 1972, he began traveling the US extensively. Eventually settling in the northern Rockies, the well developed sense of atmospheric perspective served his work well. Returning to his native Texas in 1986, he continually studied and stretched his abilities and vision in all paint mediums. For the last three years he has expanded into bronze patination as apprentice patineur at the Michael Hall Studio Foundry, Driftwood, Texas, which has stirred a new interest in casting and sculpture.
Blankenship also is a prolific writer, poet and musician. He continues to paint and sculpt in his studio and also writes and plays music with various locally and nationally recognized musicians in the Hill Country outside of Austin, Texas.
His attitude on retirement?
"To fall face down in a palette of oils with my Ibanez at my side."
TRANSLATION: Art is not a job one works to retire from. Art is life to the artist who is compelled to give it birth. Once conceived in the minds eye of the artist, it becomes something to be manifested visually and shared.
