Thomas Richman Blackshear II (born November 14, 1955)[1] is an African-American artist whose paintings adorn manyEvangelical and other churches. He is also a sculptor and a designer of stamps and ornaments, often with African American themes.
Thomas Blackshear II | |
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Born | Thomas Richman Blackshear II November 14, 1955 Waco, Texas, United States |
Occupation | Artist |
Years active | 1987-present |
Blackshear was born in Waco, Texas. He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.
Blackshear attended the Art Institute of Chicago and then American Academy of Art in Chicago.
Blackshear worked for Hallmark Cards for one year after his 1977 graduation from the American Academy of Art.[2][3]
Blackshear designed illustrations for numerous postage stamps issued by the United States Postal Service (USPS).[4][5][6]
Blackshear also created video game box art, including for Karateka (1984).[8]
A touring exhibit of his Black Heritage works premiered in 1992 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.[9] Blackshear also illustrated the USPS book I Have A Dream: A Collection of Black Americans on U.S. Postage Stamps (1991).[4] Multiple pieces of Blackshear's artwork serve as the cover art for American rock band The Killers's sixth studio album Imploding the Mirage (2020) and its singles. Blackshear's original oil paintings in the Western Nouveau genre similar to “Dance of the Wind and Storm” and the other pieces used for The Killers's album can be found at the Broadmoor Galleries in Colorado Springs.
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