FEBRUARY 7, 2008 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

SMC Alum Blackburn’s Work On Exhibit In Mary Ellen Suitt Gallery 

SPARTANBURG – The Mary Ellen Suitt Gallery at Spartanburg Methodist College is currently hosting a collection of works produced by West Columbia, SC artist and SMC alumnus Jamie Blackburn. 

Blackburn is a 1981 graduate of SMC and went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts from Lander University.  

His exhibit on display at SMC is what he calls “a retrospective of 2000 to the present. It shows a creative path.” 

Blackburn has been a professional artist for nearly three decades and started a graphic design company in 1986. He has been painting since 1998, with the release of his Lake Murray print “5 Towers.” 

While Blackburn enjoys painting traditional subjects, such as landscapes, still life, portraits, animals, and people, he enjoys abstract and modern art the most. 

“With abstract painting, I’m able to explore new approaches to making art with no limitations or impossibilities,” says Blackburn. 

He adds that the paintings in his collection of work are the results of a free-flowing process of art making. Blackburn uses many unconventional tools, pushing and pulling paint and mixing medium right on the campus, which he says has proven to be an enjoyable approach to painting. 

“Generating surface tension and texture with all the accidentals was so much fun. The process of marking this body of work was most exciting,” says Blackburn. 

He adds that his biggest inspiration has come from teachers and family, who he says all encouraged him every step of the way. 

“I give them the most credit. My inner drive to discover and the quest for new visual products all keeps me going. 

Blackburn received Spartanburg Methodist College’s Visual Artist Award in 1981.

“It feels great to have an exhibit on display here at SMC. I feel very privileged,” says Blackburn. 

The exhibit is on display until Feb. 29 in the Mary Ellen Suitt Gallery located in the Marie Blair Burgess Library. Hours are Monday – Thursday, from 8 am to 10 pm; Fridays from 8 am to 1:30 pm; and Sundays from 7 pm – 10 pm. 

Spartanburg Methodist College is in its 97th year of providing a quality education to students in a Christian environment. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning. 

For further information contact Ann Wenz, professor of art and chair of interdisciplinary studies, at (864) 587-4279, or Jamie Blackburn at (803) 446-3258. 

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