SKOTTYBEE

Scott Blankenship was delivered (crayon in hand), the younger son to Bill, a machinist and Jane, a schoolteacher in the small Mississippi River town of Cape Girardeau, MO.  The family with older brother Mark, moved to St. Louis where the boys were raised against the turbulent backdrop of the 60's and 70's.

Growing up, Scott who would now have pencils and brushes for fingers achieved numerous awards for his artistic abilities and was painting signs and creating commercial art concepts by the age of 14.  After a stint in the U.S. Army in the late 70's, he enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute and later attended the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit.

Moving into a successful yet brief career in the television industry as a graphic designer and illustrator, the artist experienced sincere disdain for the politics therein, and subsequently ventured west for some fresh Rocky Mountain air and fine art freedom.  Artistic freedom came with a price.  Realizing the life of the true "starving artist", his early adulthood was marked by periods of poverty and homelessness which proved to be as tough as the raucous streets of St. Louis, K.C., and Detroit.

A move to Southern CA. in the late 80's was rife with even greater challenges.  A near-fatal auto accident left the young artist with limited mobility in the wrist of his drawing hand.  Not to be defeated however; during his year-long recovery, he continued to satisfy clientele by creating art pieces and campaigns executed by the use of his "southpaw" and teeth.

In the ensuing, more prosperous years, Scott began to "steamroll" creating numerous fine art pieces, commercial illustrations for poster, film, print, a multitude of apparel designs, hand-carved and painted signs, cartoons, murals, billboards and even hot air balloons.

Currently, Skottybee is living and working in the state of New Mexico and as far as we know...has started a new book...with his pencil fingers!