FINE ARTIST

Walt Blackwell

For me, art is about people and their stories. Too often while racing through life we forget to pause and reflect on our fondest memories and life experiences. Engaging with the viewer on a personal level is key to my work. Too often the viewer is neglected in the vision of the artist and stories are left untold. Each person holds a unique connection to past events, locations, and inspirations. My goal is to igniite those special memories through my work and embrace classic imagery as well as images for young minds to enjoy.

A graduate of Washington University School of Fine Arts, Blackwell also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. While pursuing his degree, Blackwell was mentored and employed as an apprentice by William Conrad Severson and Saunders Schultz of Severson Schultz. Clients ranged from corporate, institutional, liturgical and private corporations. Blackwell also taught figure drawing to Washington University night school students under the direction and mentorship of professor and Distinguished Faculty Member, Richard H. Brunell.

Upon graduation, Blackwell served four years of active duty service in the U.S. Navy. After that he joined IBM working in commercial and federal divisions. In his spare time, he was a freelance artist rendering final architectural design presentations, local newspaper ads for small advertising companies, illustrating clothing and shoe catalogs and creating final patent application drawings for attorneys. Not ready to retire after his IBM career, Blackwell spent more than a decade leading national and international not-for-profits serving members in 65 countries on five continents. Most recently he developed and co-patented a new data platform for mobile data triangulation.