Thomas Blackshear – straight out of Hallmark

The woman walked determinedly toward the wall of prints that ArtLady Sandra had hung on a metal rack. A gallery owner, Sandra was selling African American art from her inventory in a parking lot near her shop over the weekend.

She had asked me to bring along some flea-market items (which looked pitiful among her classy stuff) and her friend Beverly to come over with her beautiful quilted bags.

I’m looking for figurines, the woman told us. Anything in particular, I asked. I knew that Sandra had a table of such items set up near the prints. She spoke the name Thomas Blackshear, and instantly, I knew who she was talking about. I’m usually more attuned to the pioneers among African American artists – Jacob Lawrence, Lois Mailou Jones, Elizabeth Catlett. But I was familiar with the contemporary artist Thomas Blackshear.

A month ago, about a half-dozen of his resin statutes were spread out on an auction table at one of my regular auction houses. His art is usually brilliantly colored, with positive images of black people in all shades, shapes, sizes and stances. Since I am more into the old, his works had never really appealed to me.

There were so many of them at the auction, though, – and they were in pristine shape, with no cracks, marks, smudges or breaks – that I had stopped to take a closer look. I also took photos so I could eventually blog about them.

The woman had been looking for a particular piece by the artist – called “Springtime,” as she recalled – for a good 10 years but at a price she could afford. She came across one in Atlantic City some years ago, she said, but balked at the price. She figured that she could find it cheaper elsewhere. She hadn’t. (Click on the photo above for a fuller view.)

“I should’ve got it,” she scolded herself. “Every time I go into a Hallmark store, I look for (Blackshear’s works).”

I showed her photos of the pieces at auction, especially the one that I thought was the most fetching: a woman in a bright yellow dress that she had scooped up in front like a vase, with a bouquet of flowers peeking out and her face turned to the sun. It was the exact sculpture that the woman was looking for.

I found out later that it was actually called “Spring.” The woman liked the piece, she said, because it was “joyful.” “You get love from his works,” she said.

The piece has been retired. I found two that sold on eBay for $202 and $475, and others selling for up to $895 on other sites. I then understood her misery. I wasn’t around when the Blackshear pieces sold at auction, but I’m sure none went that high.

“Spring” was made in 1999, the first of a series representing the four seasons. Blackshear got into the collectibles field when he created Star Wars, Star Star Trek and Wizard of Oz collector plates for a collectibles company. He also made commemorative stamps for the U.S. Post Office, including famous movie monsters, Black Heritage and jazz stamps. He even worked for Hallmark for awhile. He graduated from the American Academy of Art in Chicago.

Blackshear found his artistic calling, he said, when he started creating African American images for Ebony Visions with Willitts Designs International in 1995. He painted “Night in Day” that same year and sold it as a lithograph. It was the forerunner to the sculpture, which was among the auction pieces. It was selling on the web for $500.

“I wanted to create a new piece for the Society of Illustrators art show in San Francisco,” he is quoted as saying on one website that sells his art. “And Night in Day became my breakthrough. It was the first time I saw a painting in my head before I did it. I even knew the name of it. Every piece I did from that point on was different. I had a new goal, a new outlook, and a new reason for what I was doing.”

All of the Blackshear pieces at the auction were retired. They were likely part of someone’s collection. The family apparently didn’t realize their worth:

The Guardian. The original was done in 1996 and was selling on one site for $1,599 (it went unsold on eBay for $1,400). A 10-year commemorative piece was selling for $345.

Gypsy (left) was selling for $195. Skeeter (right), $99.99. They are part of the Jamboree Parade. The woman at the art sale mentioned that she had one piece by Blackshear, an angel on a cloud that fits into your open hand. It sounded like another of the pieces at auction (above , center) called “Peace on Earth,” a holiday ornament selling for $240 to $355.

“Protector” plate, porcelain, gold trimmed. $250.

Blackshear also is a painter: I came across one of his lithographs of a cowboy called “Texas Chillin.” It was selling on his site for $275.