SALT LAKE CITY, UT, July 07, 2023 - R. Geoffrey Blackburn has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Driven to approach every challenge from the perspective of a creator, Mr. Blackburn has distinguished himself as an acclaimed master artist and polymath, leveraging a deep well of experience in various disciplines, including fashion, writing, graphic design, engineering, and business. As a fine oil painter, he bears a specialization in realistic renditions of Western landscapes and indigenous wildlife. He has been particularly taken with the red rock desert vistas of Utah throughout much of his career. Having exhibited his first piece as a youngster in 1956 (which won the 1st Place Gold Medal), Mr. Blackburn's work has gone on to be displayed in art galleries and in the private collections of actors, corporate executives, and several American politicians, most prominently including President Ronald Reagan.
Though creativity has suffused much of his career, Mr. Blackburn initially made his living as a prospector alongside his then-father-in-law, James Amon Murley Jr., during the uranium boom of the early 1970s. While staking claims and scouting the vicinity of Moab, Utah, Mr. Blackburn fell in love with the picturesque appeal of the region. He used the canyon-laden desert as his muse while painting, and due to his education and environmental inclinations, many of the resulting pieces were acclaimed for their geographical accuracy. Leveraging his experience in the field of mineral exploration, Mr. Blackburn served as the president of North American Resources Corp., which worked with state officials, foreign governments, major corporate entities and property owners to facilitate transactions between various shareholders. By 1979, the company held more than 163,000 acres under contract.
Outside of his work in prospecting, Mr. Blackburn has applied his artistic proclivities toward numerous pursuits, including as the co-owner and principal artist of Overnight Graphics, a commercial graphics and typesetting company, during the 1970s. He also earned distinction as the chief artist and designer of Advance Magazine, a publication based in England, as a copywriter and layout artist for Sears Roebuck, and a fashion designer at Vida. Likewise inclined toward poetry and the written word, he has also authored a four-act play, which was choreographed for modern dance and distributed as a form of educational programming on American television and featured in a nationally distributed high school textbook. Additionally, in 1987, Mr. Blackburn pulled from his transformative experiences while prospecting to usher in a new artistic medium, "trans-dimensionalism," a novel combination of light manipulation and engineering, for which he received a patent in 1990.
In accounting for his success in both business and art, Mr. Blackburn is most grateful for his early experiences as a member of the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1969. During this time, he advanced to become a company commander and learned the importance of discipline, especially as it applied to creative endeavors. Additionally, he benefited richly from the tutelage of his creative writing teacher, Jack A. Christensen, who helped him discover his innovative voice.
Noted for his myriad achievements in the field, Mr. Blackburn is most proud to have been featured on the pages of several books and magazines, such as Contemporary Art Magazine, the Circle Quarterly Art Review and American Art Collector Magazine. He was also featured in Who's Who in Visual Art-50 Masters of Realistic Imagery 2015-2016 and Who's Who in Visual Art-42 Masters of Realistic Imagery 2012-2013 published in German and English. Additionally, he has been bestowed with innumerable accolades. To name only a few, he was recognized as a top featured artist by ArtTour International in 2023, for artistic excellence by the Circle Foundation for the Arts in 2023, with a Certificate of Excellence by the 34th Artavita Online Art Exhibition in 2020, with a Gamblin Artists Colors Materials Award for Landscape in Oil by the Salmagundi Club in 2018, a Palm Art Award several times for his performances in Germany and as a winner and finalist in several juried art competitions. Furthermore, Mr. Blackburn is gratified to have invested so much of his time and energy into the creation of his art. His most famous work, an oil-on-linen piece dubbed "Red Canyons," took over 850 hours to paint, and hand-done serigraph prints of the work have since graced the walls of the White House and featured on an episode of "Murder, She Wrote."
In offering his advice to those who may seek to follow him into the world of art, Mr. Blackburn counsels that one should seek their own artistic voice and explore their imagination. They should also be ready to maintain an open mind and a desire to keep learning. Looking toward the future, he aspires to have his book, "HOW.: Life Navigation for People Who Think," featured in classrooms throughout the world as an instructive aid toward facilitating the art of creation and fostering critical thinking skills.
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