Texas Trends in Art Education, Volume 3, Number 1, Fall 1985 Page: 24
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Artist Series
Interview with Ed Blackburn
Marvin L. Moon and Gregory E. MoonThe soft haze of early morning warmed
and flowed in the June 3, 1985 sun as
we found our way off Loop 820 and drove
east onto Interstate 30 and toward down-
town Fort Worth. The traffic was light.
We had arranged our appointment-
timed it actually-so as to just miss the
early rush of commuters to their jobs, but
stragglers and early shoppers soon caused
the tempo to pick up. We were on our way
to interview Ed Blackburn at his home.
After passing through a couple of "mix-
masters," we brushed close to the heart of
the city, exited just before the freeway
crossed the Trinity River, and drove south
for a few minutes until we found ourselves at
our destination.Linda Blackburn met us at the door and
graciously invited us into her home for the
interview. Upon entering the living room,
the first piece of artwork to greet us was a
large print of the Blue Boy. It was not a
reproduction of Gainesborough's famous
painting: it was a lithograph that Ed had cre-
ated from such a reproduction-but in a
much looser and more contemporary style.
LINDA: Oh, the image of the Blue Boy is
everywhere. It's kind of a "used-up" im-
age; that is the reason that he decided
to use it again-another round again
into a litho of it. We have never seen
it-. The original is in Los Angeles.
Everybody's seen reproductions of it,
but hardly anyone has seen the real
thing.MARVIN: Yes, I think I know what you
mean. Familiarity has drained it of much
of its original impact and meaning, but it
also has given it all kinds of connota-
tions. I did happen to see the original
years ago-when I was seventeen. Of
course, I had seen prints of it many,
many times and when I went to the
Huntington and saw the painting, it was
sort of like seeing another print. I had
difficulty in reconciling myself to the
fact that here was the actual painting
from which all of those prints had been
made-that this was really IT.
The "used-up" image of the Blue Boy was
merely the first encounter of the day with a
concept that moves through most of Ed
Blackburn's work.
Ed entered the room for the interview.
He is a tall, slender, rather easy-going man;
he was wearing jeans. In appearance, he
could not have seemed more indigenous to
our state.
MARVIN: You were born and raised in
Amarillo, weren't you Ed?
ED: Yes, I was.
MARVIN: I lived in Amarillo for a number of
years, and I have followed you with
some particular interest because of that
connection, I guess. I note too on your
vita that you had two solo shows at the
High Plains Gallery there with John
McCarty.
ED: Yes, I did.
MARVIN: You see, I was one of John's stable
of artists at that gallery for a time in
1966 and '67. That is an interesting
connection too. How long have you lived
in Fort Worth?
ED: Well, we moved here in '65. We've been
here about twenty years. Hard to be-
lieve-.
MARVIN: 1965? That would have been right
after you received your master's de-
gree, wouldn't it?
ED: Yes. I'd been to New york for a year and
had spent that couple of years in Berke-
ley (California) getting my master's. I
was just wanting to get back to Texas. I
had begun to realize that there was
something here that I liked. I liked liv-
ing here.
MARVIN: It compensates for being away
from the big markets in New York and
that sort of thing?
ED: Finally, I guess it does. At times I really
wasn't sure. Two or three times we al-
most moved someplace else, but then
things would look better-. You know,
it would look like maybe you could be an
artist in Texas-and survive.
MARVIN: How do you react to that-I
mean, to being a Texas artist? You are
living here and your art has an indige-
nous "feel" to me, but it certainly
doesn't seem to be self-consciously
"Texan."TRENDS / fall 1985
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Texas Art Education Association. Texas Trends in Art Education, Volume 3, Number 1, Fall 1985, periodical, Autumn 1985; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth279681/m1/26/?q=architectural+drawings: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Art Education Association.