| 词条 | Draft:Dennis Blalock |
| 释义 |
Also, I would advise that you read N. It is not entirely clear to me that Blalock qualifies for a Wikipedia article. Please cite as many newspaper articles as possible to establish Blalock's notability. Calliopejen1 (talk) 20:43, 15 June 2017 (UTC)}} {{AFC comment|1=If you need advice on the formatting of your draft, please ask at the Teahouse. Robert McClenon (talk) 16:17, 27 April 2017 (UTC)}}{{Infobox artist | name = Dennis Ray Blalock | image = BlalockSelfPortrait.jpg | caption = ' ' Self Portrait ' ' | birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|10|04}} | birth_place = Liberty, Mississippi | death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|09|17|1942|10|04}} | death_place = Hagerstown, Maryland | movement = Classical Realist and Fantasy Painting | nationality = United States | education = University of Maryland in Zweibrücken, Germany }} Dennis Ray Blalock (1942-2015) was a classical realist painter with strong fantasy and surrealist leanings, bonsai artist, koi hobbyist, poet, writer, and teacher. He had two careers. He joined the United States Army at age 20 and served for 20 years. He had three tours in Vietnam and was stationed in Europe and Asia. He interspersed this career with painting, many educational classes, mountain climbing and race car driving. His second career was primarily devoted to oil painting. He filled this career raising bonsai, breeding koi, composing poetry as well as writing philosophical, scientific and mystic pieces. He also wrote a yet to be published modern allegorical novel titled “Indra’s Net”. Blalock was a teacher who shared his knowledge with those serious about learning. Many students and friends believed he was a genius and ‘renaissance man’ and are determined to preserve his legacy. Unlike most artists who sought recognition, he believed his work would “end up where it was supposed to be” (a Taoist perspective). . Early life (1942-1963)Blalock was born on October 4, 1942 in Liberty, Mississippi to Fendrick Scott Blalock and Hazel Angelina Daugherty. He was the third of six children, his siblings recognized his artistic talent at an early age when he entertained them and his friends with drawings in the dirt to illustrate his stories or satisfy their requests. Lack of paper and pencils didn’t deter him. He worked for his father milking cows, morning and night and still managed to play high school football. He made friends with well-known author, Walker Percy. Blalock was hired to plant oaks along Percy’s driveway. Percy liked the inquisitive young Blalock and opened his extensive library to him without restrictions. Blalock often talked of how much he enjoyed these years reading in Wakefield Plantation in St. Francisville. When Blalock was 15 or 16 years old, his father and mother divorced and his life dramatically changed. The divorce devastated the entire family. His father kept the boys while his mother kept the girls. This arrangement did not last. Blalock and his father did not get along to the point of physical altercations so he went to live with his mother and sisters. His father remarried and the new family included an older half-brother, Conley Odell, born before Blalock’s father and mother married. Blalock turned into a rebellious teenager. He and his sister Carolyn were greatly disturbed when their older brother Fen left home to join the Navy. Sadly, later Blalock was caught stealing a car, and sent off to reform school for a year. He said he became the ‘black sheep’ of the family. After reform school, Blalock hitchhiked to New Orleans. He painted and sold small canvases of magnolias to tourists on the street. The income was negligible, so he slept in a dumpster and accepted food from kind prostitutes. He often joked about not getting any other free samples. He also said he would never paint another magnolia in his life…. and he didn’t. During this time for his enjoyment, he played the harmonica and drums in some jazz bars with Dizzy Gillespie and others. Short time later, he found a job on an oil rig. The money was better, but after noticing many of his co-workers had fingers missing, he decided to enter military service. He wanted to join the Navy like his older brother Fen. Because he could not immediately get into the Navy because of quotas and wanted to make a move right away, he joined the Army. Unfortunately, it was just in time for Vietnam. Military career (1963-1983)Dennis Ray Blalock entered the U.S. Army on April 17, 1963 at age 20 just as U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was escalating. He was in time for the first major battle of the Vietnam War called the Battle of Ia Drang also referred to as “Valley of Death” Campaign. Blalock was one of the lucky survivors. After his first battle, he prayed if he survived the war, he would return home to paint. He did. Blalock was proud to be in 7th Cavalry Regiment (a.k.a. Custer’s Unit). They had more helicopters, infantry and artillery than a standard unit. He often said it was soul stirring to ride into battles on helicopters blaring the ‘Gary Owen’. During one battle, he said he saw a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) hit him during a battle and thought he would die. After he made it to the edge of the field, he discovered he was unscathed. After he retired when talking to other veterans, he discovered some had similar experiences. He said he guessed God must have decided it was not their time yet. Blalock and his unit were involved in at least two military campaigns against Communist Vietnamese guerrilla and enemy forces. On one of his missions to a remote area, bombing and fighting were so fierce only a small handful of men survived. Blalock faced significant moral and spiritual dilemmas that plagued him even after he retired. Blalock’s unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Award and the Valorous Unit Award, the highest and second highest awards possible for a U.S. Army unit for extraordinary acts of heroism against enemy forces. He almost never mentioned these. On the other hand, Blalock received a special medal from Thailand (Order of the Elephant—a purple sash) awarded by a local district mayor for his part in a Civic Action Program (building roads, wells, and buildings). He valued this medal more than his others, although it is not listed in his official military records that have been found. Larry Armstrong was his superior officer for some time and later became his lifelong close friend. Armstrong worked with Blalock often and learned that he was always someone you could count on. He was tasked with various logistic missions and received many awards for exceptional performance. Armstrong said when shipping emergency equipment, Blalock would always get it moved within a two-hour window. After the war, Blalock utilized his military time to expand his education. He studied the language of each country where he was stationed in Europe and Asia. Although he was primarily autodidact, he studied geology among other subjects in the University of Maryland in Zweibrücken, Germany. In France and South Korea he studied painting. In Japan, he took lessons from various ‘masters’, and studied painting, martial arts, haiku (a traditional poetic form), bonsai and koi breeding. In Thailand, he studied classic Hindu art. He also studied Taoism and his philosophy became “Right is easy and easy is right”. All these interests he carried over into his life when he retired after 20 years in the service. Personal life and second career (1970-2015)Dennis Blalock met his wife Lillian Jurta in 1970, after she transferred from the Department of Defense in Washington D.C. to become secretary to the Commander of the Army Materiel Command in Europe. They spent many weekends sightseeing around Europe, attending art shows, art galleries, plays and operas (Götterdämmerung was Blalock’s favorite), and camping, road rallies, formula car racing and mountain climbing. Blalock always brought his painting supplies so that he could paint en plein air when he got inspired. In 1974, they married. After they left Germany in 1979, they settled in Thurmont, Maryland. In Thurmont, Blalock opened “Firedrake Art Studio” and Lillian worked as secretary/ administrative assistant at Fort Dietrich in Frederick. His reception in Thurmont was rocky. Some of his old acquaintances were not friendly and he was treated like many Vietnam soldiers returning after the war….like an outcast. He had returned suffering from bouts of malaria….and probably PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) before it was identified as such. Blalock self-medicated. He tried to paint, but alcohol did not help his work. One night, he was stopped for driving under the influence. He resisted arrest, was beaten, and then jailed for the night. He decided to quit drinking. The next day, the judge cemented that idea and sentenced him to Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) meetings. After he did this for the required time, he started his own AA group in Thurmont and for 10 years helped others. He never drank any alcohol again….not even a glass of wine with dinner. Blalock began accepting art students… one at a time. Most described him as a hard task master, eccentric, even a curmudgeon. Some dropped out of his class because he hurt their feelings with his painfully honest critiques. Some were kicked out if they made him lose his temper by questioning his guidance. Those who stuck with him learned much (and appreciated his painful honesty) and found him to be, underneath it all, a really kind hearted person who truly wanted his serious students to succeed. They also realized they were receiving valuable lessons from a true genius. Blalock had many young visitors who were curious about the unusual man who had moved into the area. Pretty soon there was a cadre of regulars. They kept coming back for more of his mystical and mesmerizing tales of oriental dragons, mythology religion, philosophy, science, war stories and other things. He could recite the poetry of many poets. Blalock loved the debates that ensued. He introduced all who entered his studio to the varied classical music always playing in the background. Blalock said sometimes felt he had become their ‘guru’. He kept quite busy with his friends and students, all the while painting and taking care of his bonsai (miniaturized tree cultivation), koi (Japanese carp), and writing, not to mention showing his works in numerous art shows and galleries. He had kept his promise. Lillian was a busy woman too. She worked full time at Fort Dietrich, then came home to work in the beautiful gardens she developed surrounding their home. The garden and yard were so outstanding, they attracted busloads of gardening aficionados in the spring. Over the years, Lillian adopted many stray cats. Blalock painted every one of them very realistically for her. But one painting was of a charming little, almost cartoonish, “Fat Cat” that reflected Blalock’s sense of whimsy. It was just one example of his kind heart. He often said he had built up so much bad karma during Vietnam he never wanted to kill another living thing again. Wasps, spiders, snakes, etc. had a safe house at his home. Blalock began having heart problems in the mid to late 1990’s. Over the next several years he had numerous serious operations at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. Luckily, he was still able to paint and lead limited classes. In 2012, Lillian began having health problems too. Blalock painted very little then as he devotedly took care of Lillian as she battled cancer for over a year. After she died on Oct. 4, 2013 (his birthday!), he felt his muse had left him. He did not paint again. Blalock’s health slowly deteriorated as he took care of household chores, his bonsai, koi and Lillian’s beloved cats. He hired a man to take care of Lillian’s gardens under his supervision. He managed for a couple years, but in the summer of 2015 he realized he could no longer take care of anything … including himself. He gave away his bonsai to his students, his koi to Hunting Creek Fisheries, and the much loved cats to his sister-in-law, Patricia Jurta, who was happy to help him in this way. PainterBlalock’s talent was not recognized until he began showing his paintings in various shows and galleries in Europe when he was in the military. He said France and Germany appreciated artists more so than the U.S. He won a number of awards in France and Germany and sold many surrealist paintings in the galleries there. He had many positive reviews in the French art critics’ newspaper columns. Unfortunately, the names of these paintings and galleries were lost after he died. Hopefully not lost forever. So far only one painting from his days painting in Germany has been found recently….an untitled (space fantasy). {Note: Those who know more about his work during his time in Europe hopefully can add to this Wikipedia page.} Describing his later style with one word is virtually impossible. He was a romantic realist sometimes. But he also painted fantasy, surrealism, abstracts, landscapes, portraits and figurals, still lifes, and often combinations of the above. He utilized a dramatic use of chiaroscuro and luminosity to his works. He was very prolific and was accomplished in a tremendous variety of styles. They were virtually all oil on canvas. The only prints he agreed to have made were of many of his koi paintings for Hunting Creek Fisheries. One gallery owner commented on Blalock, " I found him to be challenging, forthright, intelligent and talented. His work as an artist I found to be intriguing, clever, well composed and daring. He was often playing with the eye of the viewer, I really enjoyed his color tone on his fish as well as his miniaturization and scaling of surfaces. Dennis could grow patina from his paint brush! I loved that! Further, I found his technique of something I call “The Texas Two Step” and I saw many people do it, it was so very compelling. Viewers would stand approximately 4 feet away from his work and then discover the music to “The Texas Two Step”. They quickly move two steps closer to the image, to discover a whole new element of his work, it could appear in the Fairie's wings, the fish scales or even the dragon’s tongue. This microscopic miniaturization was intriguing as well as haunting. Dennis loved that music and watching people in Benjamin's perform this little dance. Benjamin Art Gallery hosted a number of shows for Dennis. He was one of our cherished artists. He became a Benjamin Art Gallery "Artist of the Year" in 2008 and joined two other artists on the Benjamin Art Gallery's 'Wall of Fame'.[1] Early on, he did many Western paintings, and then a Vietnam series. Later he began doing more series with some very unusual names (i.e., ‘Ephemeris’, ‘Kaleidoscope’, ‘Citadel' (walls)’, and ‘Hell Hound’ (anti-abortion). Another yearly series he did each autumn was called ‘Ochiba Shigure’ (Autumn Leaves and Falling Rain). He also wrote a poem to explain his rationale for these. Many galleries were excited to show his works, but some fantasy galleries told him his work was 'too strong' or 'two scary' or 'too hard to understand'. Blalock said, “I don’t expect everyone to understand my art. I paint mythology not fairytales”. He often said that his paintings would end up wherever they are supposed to be. (Elisabeth Stacy-Hurley) This probably explains why he kept very few photos of his work and practically no records of his paintings, who bought them or when they were purchased. This makes it very difficult to put an accurate number on how many he actually did in his lifetime and will probably give future art historians a major challenge. List of galleries in the U.S.
Partial list of shows he participated in
Bonsai artistDennis Ray Blalock began bonsai as a diversion when stationed in Japan. He took lessons from a Japanese monk in a monastery for a year. When he returned to America, he visited the “Father of Bonsai” John Naka and became inspired and fell in love with the art of bonsai. Blalock added a small greenhouse to the back of his painting studio so that he could easily go back and forth to work on both. He built a portable roadside sign that he could set out in front of his home saying simply ‘Bonsai’. The sign brought in many bonsai buyers who were also introduced to his paintings while they were there. Many became collectors of both his paintings and bonsai. Blalock gave many lessons in the art of bonsai. John (Fred) Tresselt and Thomas Cleary learned from Blalock to carry on his teachings. Dr. Karen Harkaway, a dermatologist, who entered her trees into many shows and won many awards, was his most outstanding student. She is currently the president of the American Bonsai Association. She credits Blalock with taking her under his wing and helping her get off to the right start. In June 2015, Dr. Harkaway invited Blalock to the American Bonsai Conference where he was honored. Blalock donated one of his paintings entitled “Goshin” (a painting one of John Naka’s most famous bonsai trees) that sold at their silent auction that day. He was very proud of what Dr. Harkaway has accomplished and contributed to the bonsai culture. Dennis Blalock saw bonsai as an art form that could be a simple decoration, or rise to the highest level of a very spiritual art form. He said, “I enjoy the spiritual lessons in bonsai”. Koi (Japanese carp) hobbyistBlalock built a koi pond in front of his home and began casually experimenting with breeding koi at the encouragement of Hunting Creek Fisheries, a family owned fish farm and hatchery nearby. With Blalock as advisor, the Hunting Creek Fisheries’ owner Ernest Tresselt and his son John (Fred) Tresselt embarked on an ambitious project to breed a new type of koi…what they called ”shadowed Showa”. After some trial and error, they developed a four-colored variety combining the Showa and Utsuri. The fish combined deep orange and black colors with lustrous white and a reticulated scale pattern. They did not pursue patents because of the difficulty of doing that with living things. Blalock gave it a in the private Blalock Family Cemetery near Natchez, MississippiJapanese name of “Kage-ga Showa” and an American name of “Shadow Fire”. The cover of the 1991 Summer Issue of the Irvine Valley College Community Education magazine featured a picture of one of his many koi paintings entitled “Taisho Sanshoku”. Shadow Fire Later he worked as adviser with Hunting Creek Fisheries on genetic backcrossing to develop a green colored koi. Shortly before his death in 2015, they were successful. They called it “Midori”. Time will tell if the green color is maintained with future breedings. Death (September 17, 2015)Blalock died of heart failure on Sept. 17, 2015 while staying in the home of friends, his student Elisabet Stacy-Hurley and her husband Robert Hurley near Hagerstown, MD. He died with Elisabet, Robert, and longtime friend Larry Armstrong by his side. There were two memorial services for Blalock. One was held at Stouffer’s Funeral Home in Thurmont, Maryland where his family, many friends and students in the area met to pay their tributes to this “Renaissance man”. His second memorial service was in Natchez, Mississippi where he was buried. His family and childhood friends gathered to reminisce about his early years. They also had a touching military honor guard who gave him a 21-gun salute and played taps in honor of his many years of service. Blalock’s sister, Carolyn Dollar, was executor of his estate and handled the burial arrangements. He had asked to be cremated and buried beside his wife’s ashes. Carolyn arranged for burial of them both under one tombstone in the private Blalock Family Cemetery near Natchez, Mississippi . She had it engraved with a dragonfly added for Blalock who often told of his meaningful visitations by a red dragonfly in dreams throughout his life. Blalock’s legacyBlalock left a varied legacy from his time on earth. Not only many, many paintings, but also hundreds of bonsai trees, two new colors of koi, numerous writings including unpublished poetry, short stories and a novel. Some feel another part of his legacy are his students. Some of his bonsai students share his teachings to a new generation of students, and koi collectors carry on his rare colored koi. He was most proud of students who carried on his teachings of classic painting. He said they were obligated to carry on the techniques of traditional oils painting as he was afraid it could become a ‘lost art’. He often said artists today have a connection to the early cave painters and perhaps a mystic ‘brotherhood’ between all artists throughout the ages. He had often told students of his plan to do one last painting before he died that he would title “Walks on Lightning”. He waited a little too long, but long enough to task some of his students with painting this for him. It will be interesting to see what they do with this last assignment. List of some of his painting students
Additional Selected Works[edit]
SourcesFrederick Library, ‘Maryland Room’ (most info about Blalock was gathered from Frederick Post-News archives there) Frederick News-Post Newspaper (some articles from 1985 until 2015 obituary) List:
The Herald-Mail, Hagerstown, Md (some articles from 2005 until 2008) Found in Wash.Co.Free Library... microfilm archives) List:
All photo use permission given by copyright owner: Carolyn Dollar (heir to all photo copyrights), (photographs donated from: Carolyn Dollar, Jeff Flora, Elisabet Stacy-Hurley, Karen Shifler, J. Williams, Jr., Patricia Jurta) Irvine Valley College, 5500 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, CA 92720 Hunting Creek Fisheries, www.huntingcreekfisheries.com Greg Bernstein, Director of Operations of Gateway Mountain Center (5 interview videos) Peter McGuire Wolf PhD (1 interview video) Footnotes1. ^Clifford T. Springer, President and CEO, Benjamin Art Gallery, Hagerstown, MD, |
| 随便看 |
|
开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识，基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识，是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。