Artist's Statement
I love to draw and paint. How lucky am I that I get to make my living doing just that? And as a bonus, I get to teach people how to unlock their creative passions. I’ve been teaching folks how to unlock their creative spirit for over 30 years - and loving every minute of it. Students become lifelong friends, and I end up learning something from every one of them.
My styles and series are wide-ranging. You could say I’m a restless investigator. From my first painting at ten years old to the one I just finished yesterday, my curiosity is never fully satisfied. Along the way, I’ve made friends with the “tools” of my trade, line, color, shape, and texture. I keep digging further into their mysteries, always looking for that ultimate sweet spot, where they all come together in magical harmony.
Digital, analog, paint, pen and ink, you name it, I’ve tried it. Some with great success, some not so much. I keep coming back to this endeavor, and I’m always excited to see what’s over the next hill. I’ll keep investigating and teaching until they haul me off, and even then, I’m sure I’ll have someone working on an assignment somewhere!
Biography
I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and went to elementary school in Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. I attended high school in New Mexico and then moved to San Francisco.
I’ve been a working artist in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years. In 2002 NextMonet Inc. signed me to produce prints of several of my paintings. In 2000 I was hired by Golden Artist Colors, as the Golden Working Artist in San Francisco. In 2014 my first book "Acrylic Painting with Passion" was published by Northlight Books. My work is collected both locally and internationally with patrons as far away as Tokyo. In 2018 my next two books were published and are available on Amazon and other booksellers.
I received my BFA from the Academy of Art in San Francisco, studied lithography at the San Francisco Art Institute and received my Master's of Art from John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California.
“I can resist everything except temptation.”
Selected Collections
Marriott Hotels
IHG Hotels International
Brigham Young University
Kaiser Permanente Hospital
Rigel Pharmaceuticals
Bellevue Towers
Numerous private collections
Selected Exhibitions
2019 UCSF National Center of Excellence, "Serenity - The Work of Art" (Curator)
2017 thINK Arthouse, Sacramento CA
2015 Transmission Gallery, "Variations on Abstraction" Oakland, CA
2014 UCSF National Center of Excellence, "Serenity - Blackburn and Friends" (Curator)
Red Dot Gallery "Tesia Blackburn - Wonderland" Sacramento CA (One person show)
2013 Transmission Gallery "Layers", Oakland CA
2012 601 Townsend "Fire and Rain - Blackburn and Friends" San Francisco CA (Curator)
Blackburn and Lee – Gallery 2110 Sacramento CA
2011 Abstract 2000-2012 – Sacramento Temporary Contemporary
2010 Angular Architectural – Artists of Hunter’s Point – Atrium Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Winter Blue Group Show, Marion Meyer Gallery
Introductions, 20th Street Art Gallery
Something Red, Marion Meyer Gallery
Introductions, 20th Street Art Gallery
2006 Walnut Creek City Hall – Walnut Creek, CA “Tesia Blackburn” (One person show)
2005 Walnut Creek Civic Arts – Walnut Creek, CA “Tesia Blackburn” (One person show)
2005 Saint John’s College – Santa Fe, NM “Blackburn/Klabunde/Zavada“
2003 Thoreau Center San Francisco – Tesia Blackburn “World Mountain House” (One person show)
Blair Carnahan Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Invitational Monoprint Show;
Hutchinson Art Center, Hutchinson, KS Tesia Blackburn - Art in the Heartland - (One person show);
525 Market, San Francisco, CA (Two Person Show); Mad River Post, San Francisco CA
2000 Starbucks on the Plaza –Santa Fe, NM (One person show); Picasso’s Piccolo, Madrid, NM (One person show)
1999 Alpha Group Art Tesia Blackburn - Image and Energy: Recent Work (One person show);
SITE Santa Fe, Monomarathon Gala Opening
1998 Artisans’ Gallery, Mill Valley CA Small Works
1997 Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA Women's Celebration
1996 San Jose, CA Tapestry in Talent Berkeley, CA Live Oak
Artistes Gallerie, Sacramento, CA Introductions: Letizell/Blackburn, (Two person show)
1995 Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA Women's Celebration
1992 John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, CA Annual Open House;
Back Room Gallery, Sacramento, CA Private Obsessions
1991 I Gallery, Sacramento, CA Three Bad A's: Aids, Apartheid, Armament
1990 Two Penny Gallery Sacramento, CA Lost Angels
1989 Garden Silks Sacramento, CA Faces No Names; Accurate Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA Collectors Exhibition;
John Beggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA Hospitality House Fourth Annual Auction
1988 Alonso/Sullivan Gallery Seattle, WA Newell/Blackburn (Two person show)
Seattle, WA Visual Artists Against Aids
Hospitality House, San Francisco, CA Perspectives
Accurate Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA Just When Things Don't Figure
Accurate Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA Women Artists 1988
1987 Alonso/Sullivan Gallery, Seattle, WA 18/200 Small Formats
Arts Council of San Mateo Belmont, CA Bay Arts-Eighth Annual Juried Exhibition
Alonso/Sullivan Gallery, Seattle, WA Eroticism: West Coast Expression
1985 Bay Area Lawyers for the Arts, San Francisco, CA Benefit Auction
1984 San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA Celebration of Form
Lectures/Teaching
2019 Today at Apple - Keynote Presentation Women’s History Month - iPad and Procreate
2000-Present Certified Golden Working Artist, Golden Artist Colors, New Berlin, NY
1993-Present Hunters Point Studio: Abstract Painting, Business of Art, Printmaking, Acrylic Painting
2003-7 San Francisco City College, Walnut Creek Civic Arts, Northbay Artworks, San Luis Obispo ArtCenter
2002 Amsterdam Art- Berkeley, CA; Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM; San Francisco City College, San Francisco, CA; Pacific Art Center, Walnut Creek, CA ; Art and Clay, Santa Fe, NM
2001 Amsterdam Art- Berkeley CA; Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA; San Francisco City College, San Francisco, CA; Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, CA; Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS; Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM ; Art and Clay, Santa Fe NM; Randall Museum, San Francisco, CA;Art and Clay (Children) Santa Fe, NM Printmaking Summer Camp; Community College of Santa Fe, NM
1999 Richmond Art Center (Children), San Francisco, CA ; Community College of Santa Fe, NM; Art and Clay (Children) Santa Fe, NM - Printmaking Summer Camp;
1996 City College of San Francisco, CA, Printmaking without a Press
1993-5 Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, CA,Printmaking without a Press
1992 Bayview Senior Center, Instructor, San Francisco, CA
1991 Letterman Army Hospital, Oncology Ward, Instructor, San Francisco, CA