The Art of R. Geoffrey Blackburn

In celebration of the of the Western Art Collector feature, we are offering a 25% discount on all Limited Edition Prints of paintings featured in the October 2009 edition of the magazine.

Featured work:

Knobs	Castle Tower	Red Dawn
Spires of Zion	Double Arch Dawn	Two in the Bush

To claim your 25% discount, please click on the title of the image of interest and add youy name, email address and any comments to the email that pops up when you click. To see the image at a larger size, please click on the image itself.

Western Art Collector Magazine Featured Artist

Western Art Collector magazine has issued its first ever Utah section featuring the oil paintings of Utah artist R. Geoffrey Blackburn. Mr. Blackburn has been painting Southwest desert red rock landscapes since the early 1970's.

Double Arch Dawn, Red Dawn and Two in the Bush are scenes from Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah. Castle Tower 2.0 is a scene from Castle Valley, Utah east of Moab and Knobs is a scene of the Colorado River along the 103 mile White Rim Trail west of Moab, Utah.

R. Geoffrey Blackburn's first red rock landscape, Desert Canyon started out not as a desert painting, but as a Western "cowboy" piece including a 5-man posse in hot pursuit galloping through a forest. This earlier incarnation was displayed at the Old Jailhouse Gallery in Taos, NM for several months until Blackburn retrieved it with the idea of "making a few changes". Having recently returned from Europe, the painting had a European "spaghetti western" feel to it that had bothered Blackburn, so he decided to paint out the forest and paint in a red rock desert landscape around the posse. Having done that, he thought it still did not look right, so he started painting out the posse and painting in more desert until only the sheriff remained. Finally, he realized that the sheriff had to go so he painted him out as well and the first red rock landscape was created. In the right light one could still see the "ghost" posse under the new painting.

Since Desert Canyons in 1974, Blackburn has painted several Southwest red rock desert landscapes and a few Jackson Hole-Tetons pieces as well. He also painted a series of surreal works he calls his "Spaced Miners Series" representing his imaginative take on the unearthly beauty of Southwest red rock landscapes as seen from his uranium prospecting days.

The October 2009 edition is not Blackburn's first appearance in Western Art Collector. His painting entitled Desert Rules appeared in the November 2008 edition.

R. Geoffrey Blackburn