Artist Spotlight - R. Geoffrey Blackburn
Biography
1960-1970 Surreal - Psychedelic Period
Red Rock Period - 1974 to present:
From 1970-1973, prior to my "Red Rock Period," I painted almost exclusively Old West figurative scenes often featuring cowboys on the trail doing various cowboy things and prospectors panning for gold and so on. One of the last of these works entitled "The Posse" was completed in 1972 and displayed at the Jailhouse Gallery in Taos, New Mexico. After a few months, I decided that the posse would look more natural riding through a desert than through a forest, so I asked the gallery to return the painting so I could change the background. One by one members of the Posse began disappearing under a coat of paint until, at last, there was only the Sheriff riding along the edge of a cliff, rifle in hand. Finally, he too was painted over and thus the painting, "Desert Canyons" was created. (In just the right light, the posse was still visible under the desert, buried for all time like the cowboys of the old west). The final version now entitled "Desert Canyons" was completed in 1974 and thus began my "Red Rock Period". (The “Desert Canyons” painting was destroyed in a fire in the early 2000’s).
Pelicans Rising, 2008/12, Oil on Panel, 20.3 x 47 cm
Being basically an environmentalist, when my then father-in-law, James Amon Murley Jr., (a truly colorful character right out of an old west novel, and an old-fashioned mining man who had little use for an artist son-in-law), thought I ought to get into something "more substantial" like uranium prospecting and promoting, I could hardly refuse. Fortunately for me, this worked out rather well because in 1970 (when all this happened) uranium was considered THE clean environmentally friendly alternative to coal and all the big energy companies were scrambling to buy fuel for their new reactors so, the uranium boom of the 1970's was off and running and I had a front row seat! As it turned out, I ended up operating a mineral exploration company based in Salt Lake City, working out of Moab, Utah. I prospected, staked claims, drilled, and promoted uranium properties all over the Colorado Plateau. On occasion, I even confronted armed claim jumpers. I worked with local claim owners and major energy companies often doing million-dollar deals on napkins in bars and restaurants into the wee hours. The boom finally went bust when the meltdown happened at Three Mile Island causing everyone to rethink the environmental efficacy of nuclear reactors...
In 2026, nuclear is now “safe” and booming again. Go figure…
Stalking Cougar, 2009, Oil on Panel, 38.1 x 27.9 cm
Working and living in Canyon country, I was totally captivated by the amazing red rock vistas around Moab. I was concurrently doing photo studies and sketches of the scenes I encountered prospecting in the area. When I returned to Salt Lake City, I turned many of these studies and sketches into paintings- a practice I continue to this day. Given my aesthetic connection to this beautiful country, I was particularly concerned about the potential environmental impact of mineral exploration and mining on the land. Over the years, I have seen many examples of wanton destruction from previous mining operations, some of them dating back to the 19th century when people simply did not consider environmental factors. Therefore, we took great pains to leave any area we explored just as we found it. I dare say that one would find no trace of us ever having been on any of the properties we explored.
Castle Tower, 2005/12, Oil on Linen, 61 x 91.4 cm
Although I have studied art both privately and at the University of Utah, I am essentially self-taught. My first recognition as an artist came at the age of eight when my work won first prize at the annual exhibit at the world-famous Old Mission at San Juan Capistrano California. I have spent time in Europe studying the work of the Renaissance Masters. While in England in the early 1970s, I was the principal artist for an international magazine. In late 1987 I "fathered" an exciting new art form I call "Multi-Dimensionalism." I was granted a patent for this user-interactive invention by the U.S. Patent Office in 1990. Of this new art form, Vern Swanson, Director of the Springville wrote ". . . I was captivated by the beauty, peacefulness, and stimulating quality of Blackburn's creation. "I fully recommend this radical new innovation . . . We believe that his work will make an important contribution to society for the immediate future, bringing art back to the people."
Walking Wild, 2011, Oil on Linen, 45.7 x 55.9 cm
The streets of Moab are no longer choked with red dust or rumble with gigantic trucks heading to Atlas Minerals to offload their ore. Instead, they are full of tourists and off-road adventurers here to soak up the astonishing red rock vistas that I hiked through and painted over the decades. And gone forever is the hideous Atlas eyesore! How absolutely wonderful!!!
R. Geoffrey Blackburn
Pelicans Rising, Oil on Panel 8 x 18.5 in
Exhibitions
2026 Featured in the Artist Spotlight - Contemporary Art Curator Magazine
2025 Featured in the Artist Spotlight - Contemporary Art Curator Magazine
2024 Exhibition - An International Group Exhibition by Exhibizone | Contemporary Art at Smart Online Exhibitions by Exhibizone | Vancouver, BC | Art Week
2023 Top Featured Artist - ARTtour International
2023 Award: Honorable Mention, Artist of the Year Award - Circle Foundation for the Arts - Lyon, France
2022 Finalist: Butterfly Effect Online Exhibition - Contemporary Art Curator Magazine
2021 Featured Artist Contemporary Art Magazine - 23 Circle Foundation for the Arts - Lyon, France
2020 Finalist: International Realism Guild 2020 Spring Salon
2020 Award: Honorable Mention, Artist of the Year Award - Circle Foundation for the Arts - Lyon, France
2020 34th International Artivita Online Art Exhibition Art Expo New York - Certificate of Excellence
2019 Honorable Mention, Artist of the Year Award Circle Foundation for the Arts - Lyon, France
2018 WINNER - Gamblin Artist Colors Material Award for Landscape in Oil Award - Salmagundi Open Painting Sculpture & Graphics Exhibition, The Salmagundi Club, NYC, NY
2018 13th Annual International Guild of Realism Juried Exhibition - Sugarman-Peterson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2018 NOAPS Finalist - Spring International On-Line Exhibition
2017-2018 ARC Salon Finalist USA - 3,750 entries from 69 countries Two Hawks
2017 Finalist 12th Annual International Guild of Realism Juried Exhibition, Winfield Gallery, Carmel-by-The_Sea, CA
2017 PALM ART AWARD - 1st Prize Winner, Quedlinburg, Germany
2017 Finalist- ARC 13th International Salon
2016-2017 First Place Special Recognition - "New Beginnings" Exhibition - Manhattan Arts International - NYC, NY
2016 Close to Home-Our Own Spectacular National Parks - St. George Museum, St. George, UT
2015 Masterworks Museum Tour - International Guild of Realism
2015 Finalist Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition and Exhibition
2014 Palm Art Award , Quedlinburg, Germany
2014 9th Annual International Guild of Realism Juried Exhibition - Awarded "Best Landscape", Robert Lange Studios, Charleston, SC
2014 Finalist Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition and Exhibition
2013 7th Annual Paint the Parks Juried Competition, The Coutts Museum of Art, El Dorado, KS
2013 8th Annual International Guild of Realism Juried Exhibition - Awarded "Best of Landscape", Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe, AZ
2013 Finalist Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition and Exhibition
2013 Western Artists of American Miniature Show, Heritage Museum, Billings, MT
2012-2013 Finalist Art Renewal Center International Salon - 9th Annual Juried Competition
2012-2013 Who's Who in Visual Art - 42 Masters of Realistic Imagery, English & German, Leipzig, Germany
2012 American Society of Traditional Artists, Open Range Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2012 Artavita 3rd Art Contest Juried Show-Honorable Mention, Santa Barbara, CA
2012 Western Artists of America 8th Annual Sale and Exhibition, Pearce Museum, Corsicana, TX., USA
2012 6th Annual PaintAmerica, Top 100 Competition, Juried show
2012 6th Annual PaintAmerica, Mini Top 50 Competition, Juried show
2012 Finalist Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition and Exhibition
2011 Finalist Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition and Exhibition
2010 PaintAmerica, Top100 Competition, Juried show
2010 PaintAmerica, Mini Top50 Competition, Juried show
2010 Springville Museum of Art, 84th Annual Spring Salon, Juried Exhibition, UT
2010 Finalist Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition and Exhibition
2010 5th Annual International Guild of Realism Juried Show -.Awarded: "Best Landscape", Palm Desert, CA
2009 PaintAmerica,Mini Top50 Competition, Juried show
2009 Finalist Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition and Exhibition
2009 Paint the Parks, PaintAmerica Juried show
2009 Springville Museum of Art, 85th Annual Spring Salon
2009 International Art Show Part I: Realism' Guests Gallery
2008-09 iBiennial of Contemporary Art
2008-09 Saatchi Online Gallery, UK
2008-12 Artbreak
2008 Guests Gallery Work of the New Year
2008 “Small Works North America” Greenwich Workshop, Fairfield, CT
2008 Finalist Art Kudos International Juried Art Competitions and Exhibition
2008 Springville Museum of Art, 84th Annual Spring Salon, Juried Exhibition, Springville, UT
2008 The President's Art Show, SLC, UT
2007 “Small Works North America” Greenwich Workshop, Fairfield, CT
2007 Red Rock in Detail, one-man-show, Moab, UT
2007 Art Expo Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
2007 The West in Detail, Horizon Fine Art, Jackson, WY
2007-Finalist Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition and Exhibition
2007 9th Annual New Horizons Academy Art Show and Auction, Las Vegas, NV
2006 63rd Annual National Art Exhibit, Cedar City, UT
2006 Freedom Festival Fine Art Exhibit, Provo, UT
2006 The President's Art Show (the Museum of Utah Art & History)
1997 Springville Museum of Art, 73rd Annual Spring Salon
1996 Springville Museum of Art, 72nd Annual Spring Salon
1995 Springville Museum of Art, 7lst Annual Spring Salon
1995 1994 Springville Museum of Art: Art with a Religious Theme
1975 Springville Museum of Art, 5lst Annual Art Exhibit (Painting reproduced in Catalogue)
1975 Associated Utah Artists Invitational Exhibit
1974 Hilton Hotel Invitational
1974 Deseret News Heritage Art Show
1974 All Utah Art Exhibit (Springville Museum of Art & Utah State Institute of Fine Art)
1960 Art at the Abyss 1960
1956 Old Mission School Art Festival, San Juan Capistrano, CA
Indian Summer, 2008/2012, Oil on Linen, 71 x 91.4 cm
Galleries
2012 Open Range Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2010 J. Willot Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2009 Kolb Gallery, Grand Canyon, AZ
2008-09 Pinetop Contemporary Gallery, Pinetop, AZ
2008 Old Church Gallery, Springdale, UT
2007-08 Marshall Arts Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2007 Greenwich Workshop Gallery, Fairfield, CT
2007-08 Moab Art Works, Moab UT
2006-09 Horizon Fine Art, Jackson, WY
2006-08 Art Encounter, Las Vegas NV
2005-2006 Stanfield Fine Art, Park City, UT
1989-1997 C-Gallery, SLC, UT
1996, 1986 Old Town Gallery, Park City, UT
1990 Liebenson Gallery, SLC, UT
1990 Brushworks Gallery, SLC, UT
1986 J. Christensen Gallery, SLC, UT
1983-84 Fine Arts Gallery, Ardmore, PA
1983-84 Windrush Gallery, Sedona, AZ
1983-84 Hawkeye, Galleries, Ltd., Aspen, CO
1983-84 Aldridge Fine Arts Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
1980-90 Winn Galleries, Seattle, WA
1974-1975 Old Jailhouse Gallery, Taos, NM
1975 Jamaica Bay Inn, Marina Del Rey, CA
1973 Tivoli Gallery, SLC, UT
1973 C'est Bon Hotel, Park City
1971-74 Old House Gallery, SLC, UT
1971-72 Jail House Gallery, Taos, NM
1960 The Abyss, SLC, UT
Red Canyon, Lander, 2006/12, Oil on Linen, 66 x 91.4 cm
Institution Collections
Allstate Insurance Company
North West Pipeline Company
LDS Museum of Church History and Art
Rancher Exploration &Development Corp.
Hecla Mining Company
First Security Bank Corporation
Two in the Bush, 2006, Oil on Linen, 71.1 x 50.8 cm
Private Collections
President Ronald Reagan
Secretary of State Alexander Haig Jr.
Secretary of Interior, William Clark
United States Senator, Paul Laxalt
United States Senator, Orrin Hatch
United States Senator, Jake Garn
Governor, Norman Bangerter
Dr. Armand Hammer
Actor/ Director, Robert Redford
Chairman/CEO Ranchers Exploration & Mining Corp., Balloonist, Maxie L. Anderson
Chairman/CEO Uravan Minerals, Larry Lahusen
President, Buttes Gas and Oil Co, Robert R. Norman
Dr. Ken J. Baldwin
Two Hawks, 2017, Oil on Panel, 45.7 x 61cm
TV Appearance
2019 – Colour in Your Life -TV Series interview -on 300 plus international TV stations
2019 - AERA on TV and Online- TV special on German language TV
1985 "Red Canyons" serigraph featured in a Murder, She Wrote episode
Dead Horse Autumn - Approaching Storm Oil, 2006/10, Oil on Linen, 66 x 91.4 cm
Publications
2025 Contemporary Art Curator Magazine - Artist Spotlight
2024-2025 Selected for inclusion in Marquis Who's Who in America
2023-2024 Selected for inclusion in Marquis Who's Who in America
2023 Circle Spotlight Contemporary Art Magazine
2023 Contemporary Art Collectors Barcelona, Spain
2023 Artistonish Magazine - Issue #39 October
2023 The Wall Street Journal - Who’s Who of Distinguished Leaders: 2023 Honorees
2021 Features Artist Contemporary Art Magazine 23 - Circle Arts Foundation For the Arts - Lyon, France
2019 Fall -Featured Artist- Circle Quarterlyartreview - Circle Foundation For the Arts - Lyon, France
2019 Excellent Art - Enter into Art 2019 English and German
2019 Circle Foundation for the Arts-Artist of the Year Award 2019 - Honorable Mention Award
2018 Western Art Collector, featured - Canyons & Deserts
2018 Fine Art Connoisseur
2017 Professional Artist (magazine)
2015-2016 Who's Who in Visual Art-50 Masters of Realistic Imagery
2014 American Art Collector, featured, IGOR show
2013 Southwest Art, Preview IGOR Show, featured artist
2013 American Art Collector, featured, IGOR show
2012-2013 Who's Who in Visual Art-42 Masters of Realistic Imagery
2012 Best of America Landscape Artists, Vol.I
2012 American Art Collector, featured ASTA show
2012 Western Art Collector, featured - State of the Art: Utah
2012 Western Art Collector, featured - Western Artist of America Show: Texas
2010 American Art Collector, featured artist, IGOR show
2009 Western Art Collector, featured artist- State of the Art: Utah
2008 Western Art Collector
2008 "Utah Painters of the Red Rock"
Canyon Jewel, 1982, Oil on Linen,127 x 96.5 cm
Awards
2024-2025 Selected for inclusion in Marquis Who's Who in America
2023-24 Selected for inclusion in Marquis Who's Who in America
2023 Top Featured Artist - ARTtour International
2023 Award: Honorable Mention, Artist of the Year Award - Circle Foundation for the Arts - Lyon, France
2021 Featured Artist Contemporary Art Magazine 23 Circle Foundation for the Arts - Lyon, France
2021: International Jury Member 6th "Enter into Art" International Contest 2020-21 in Germany for the book "Art Retreat-Living with pictures" (mini-print and mixed media)
2017 Palm Art Award 1st Prize Winner, Art Domain Group, Quedlinburg, Germany
2016-2017 First Place Special Recognition - "New Beginnings" Exhibition - Manhattan Arts International - NYC, NY
2014 Palm Art Merit Award, Art Domain Group, Quedlinburg, Germany
2014 "Best of Landscape", 9th Annual International Guild of Realism Juried Exhibition, Charleston, SC
2013 "Best of Landscape", 8th Annual International Guild of Realism Juried Exhibition, Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe, AZ
2012-2013 Palm Art Merit Award, Art Domain in Verlag, Leipzig, Germany
2012 Honorable Mention, Artavita 3rd Art Contest Juried Exhibition- Santa Barbara, CA
2010 "Best of Landscape", 5th Annual International Guild of Realism Juried Exhibition, Palm Desert, CA
1990 United States Patent described by Springville Museum Director, Dr. Vern G. Swanson as a "new art form".
Desert Rules, 2008, Oil on Panel, 22.9 x 39.4 cm
Artists Statement
I have done art my entire life. It is my "magnetic north" - no matter what else I do; it always tacks back to art - one way or another. My grandfather was an artist so, it's in the genes.
When I was very young, (2nd-3rd grade) and lived in Laguna Beach, CA., I painted sea creatures, underwater scenes, sailing ships, and various scenes of a giant squid attacking the submarine Nautilus. Later, when we moved inland, I drew and painted landscapes, cityscapes, and various figurative, pieces. In 1966, I hitchhiked to New York City, enroute to Nova Scotia where I had intended to sign on to a freighter and work my way to Paris and do art on the Left Bank. For various reasons, I almost ended up in Australia instead, but that's another story… at that point, I never made it out of the U.S., but I did get to see an astonishing Salvador Dali exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, which totally blew my mind, as we used to say in the '60's. There I discovered I was actually a Surrealist. and subsequently did several very strange paintings including a psychedelic skier’s series.
During the 1970's I was fortunate to have lived and worked near Moab, UT, which was how I came to cherish and thus focus on red rock landscapes-which in and of themselves are surreal.
Although I have had some formal training, I am essentially self-taught. my art has hung in the White House and appeared on national television. In 1987, I invented a new, user-interactive art form for which I received a US Patent in 1990. My inner Surrealist survives in this new artwork.
Red Canyons, 1979, Oil on Linen, 61 x76.2 cm
My painting, "Two Hawks, an admittedly terrible title, (I'll change it if/when I think of something better) is a morning scene from just off the White Rim trail- a 103-mile dirt road that runs under Dead Horse Point west of Moab, Utah. I have done a number of scenes along this road. It has amazingly diverse geological structures and the colors are mind blowing! This particular formation is almost impossible to spot from the road, indeed the only visibly distinguishable part is the very top of the pillar and if you don't happen to see it at exactly the right moment, it is gone before you know it. This painting took me a brain-numbing 1673 hours to paint. I could have done the Sistine Chapel… so why you might wonder did it take so long?! Well, for one thing, I learned, about 1,000 hours in, that I had cataracts in both eyes that radically affected my ability to see blues and purples. Big Shock. I had them removed in July of 2016. Then I saw my painting for the first time. I had another BIG SHOCK. The colors were so far off from what I thought I was painting; I had to make significant adjustments to much of the painting. Also, more importantly, I kept discovering/creating new spaces in the painting that I could go into and explore. It was absolutely fascinating. So, into my painting I went. I literally spent my time creating space to go into. The more time I spent, the more space I created. It's been a strange, lonely, amazing, even metaphysical experience. Every day for months I thought I'd be finishing the next day only to be confounded by a new discovery that I just had to explore. I had even painted the 2016 date on the piece but had to paint that out as I ended up well into 2017 before I finally called it done. Boy, talk about OCD… Think about it, I've looked at this image, basically 1/25 if a second, for nearly 1700 hours and am STILL discovering amazing things in the scene...Hmmm..."
Road to Sedona, 2007, Oil on Panel, 15.2 x 54 cm
In 1988 I created and subsequently patented in 1990, an entirely new user-interactive artform. Sadly, due to its myriad technical complexities and the fact that it involves several different technologies, and disciplines, I have not yet been able to pursue this invention as I had hoped. Stay tuned. I first have to clone myself…
What I am seeking to do with my paintings, is to create a doorway that allows you to step through the surface of the painting and into the scene - have you explore its spaces, and feel like you are actually there. I want you to smell the desert flora and feel the crunch of the sand under your boots - everywhere you look, there's something new to discover.
The tight detail in my work makes this possible. I paint "thin"– using very little paint, layering thin transparent colors on top of each other so you can “look into” the rock. With looser more "painterly" work, the viewer is stopped at the surface of the painting.
I paint the various desert creatures as you would actually discover them in nature – not as the main focus, but rather as a part of the greater whole. Having spent nearly a decade living and exploring the desert canyons with geologists, my work is geologically accurate and often collected by mining companies.
Twilight on the Colorado, 2013, Oil on Panel, 35.6 x 61 cm
