Roger Blum

Roger was born and raised in Watsonville, California, a beautiful region along the northern California coast. He spent much of his youth hunting pheasants, quail, waterfowl and fishing for trout and steelhead. Roger's first upland painting was a watercolor which he gave to his father on Father's Day, it was a ringneck pheasant being flushed from cover he and his dad often hunted.

Late in high school, his close neighborhood friend encouraged Roger to take an art class where he could channel his creative ideas. "It was in my first painting class my senior year where my teacher showed me pictures of Winslow Homer's sporting images of the Adirondacks and the remote regions of the Canadian wilderness. I must admit a 'buzz' went through me that day that has never left", says Roger. "I was so hooked on the idea of painting what I love, that whatever professional ideas I had previously, soon vanished."

His formal education ended with a Master's Degree in Illustration from San Jose State University in California. That led to his first job assignment at Hallmark Cards Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri. After being drafted, he and four others were chosen for special assignments to Viet Nam as combat artists. Roger says, "Youth does have its ignorance." His paintings and drawings of this experience have been exhibited at the Pentagon in Washington D.C., the Indianapolis Museum of Art, as well as other venues.

Called back to the class room, he taught and chaired two college Art departments for thirteen years. "This time in education was a great learning experience for me, as my students challenged everything I knew and everything I thought I knew." It was in 1984 that Roger decided to leave the classroom and pursue his dream to paint full time.

Roger has studied with two masters of watercolor and oil, namely Tom Nicholas, NA, AWS, and Vernon Nye, AWS. "I strive to find my own language as I interpret the scene before me", says Roger. "Each subject must resonate with my own experience and go beyond mere vision. Some great masters of the past that I enjoy are Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Frank Benson (1862-1951), Roy Mason (1886-1972) and William J. Kaula (1871-1953). I admire the works of some very gifted contemporary painters as well and have counted it a privilege to paint alongside some of them.

"All this being said, I know that whatever I am or whatever I paint, I do it all to the glory of God. The great musical composer J.S.Bach once said, 'The aim and final reason of all music is none else but to the glory of God'. I make no lesser claim."

Roger's paintings are now in numerous private and corporate collections and have been used in and on numerous Sporting Journals and books. Enjoy the journey with Roger through the wonderful world of the Wild and Beautiful.