Martin Blundell was born in Salt Lake City, Utah November 5, 1949. He is noted for his mixed media collage drawings and paintings. He lives in Bountiful, Utah with his wife.

Blundell earned a BFA from the University of Utah in 1975. With Robert Kleinschmidt as his mentor, Blundell began studying printmaking and intaglio. He applied to and was accepted into the MFA program at the University of Utah but had to leave before finishing due to family circumstances. He then began a career as an art director and designer. In his spare time, he began to experiment with painting and watercolor.

Blundell's work has been recognized with numerous awards and exhibitions. In 2001 and 2004, his work was part of the juried Mixed Media & Works on Paper exhibition sponsored by the Utah Arts Council. He received the juror's award in 2001. In 2002, his work was featured in the Springville Museum of Art spring salon juried show. Earth and Sky, Duet, and Eden Memory, all mixed media, are examples of his recent work.

Information on this page was adapted from autobiographical information supplied by the artist.

Martin Blundell was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on November 5, 1949. His first formal experiences with art were in junior high school when he took a seventh grade art class. After his family moved to Bountiful, he entered Viewmont High School and began taking as many art classes as he could fit into his schedule. During high school, he focused on graphic photomechanical screen print techniques and completed commercial screen-printed sign age projects.

After attending Salt Lake Community College for a few years, he created posters advertising University of Utah activities for the school's Special Events Center. He re-entered the art program at the University of Utah in 1971, resuming the foundation program and survey of art history. He studied with all the great artists in the art department at the University but Robert Kleinschmidt became his mentor. During his junior and senior years, he participated in the Honors program in the art department as a printmaking student. He graduated with honors with a B.F.A. in art in 1975.

He was accepted into a Master's program at the University of Utah in 1975. The death of a child in his family forced him to drop out of school within a few years to pay medical expenses and support the family. While he never completed the Master's Degree, he continued to pursue his art as an art director and designer. In 1985, he and two partners incorporated Sportswear Design International, which first catered to the ski industry but later included the golf industry.

In the past few years he has been working primarily on mixed media collage drawings and paintings. Throughout his career, he has received several awards and recognition from the Utah Watercolor Society, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Springville Museum Spring Salons and the Utah Arts Council. He looks forward to continuing to expand his involvement in fine arts.

SELECTED EXHIBITS

• 1980 - Group Show Finch Lane Gallery
• 1982 - University of Utah Bountiful Davis Art Center Juried Show.
• 1984 - Utah Watercolor Society Statewide Juried Show.
• 1995 - Bountiful Davis Art Center Juried Show. 20 Years of Davis County Competition Award Winners Group Show.
• 1999 - Bountiful Davis Statewide Juried Show.
• Springville Art Museum Spring Salon Juried Show.
• University of Utah, 30 Years of Student Printmaking.
• Weber State University, What is Drawing Now? National Juried Show
• 2000 - Bountiful Davis Art Center Statewide Juried Show.
• 2001 - Utah Arts Council 2001 Mixed Media and Works on Paper Juried Show.
• 2002 - Bountiful Davis Art Center Group Show. The Nature of Abstraction.
• Springville Art Museum Spring Salon Juried Show.
• 2003 - Bountiful Davis Art Statewide Juried Show.
• 2004 - Bountiful Davis Art Statewide Juried Show.
• Springville Art Museum Spring Salon Juried Show.
• Utah Arts Council 2004 Mixed Media and Works on Paper Juried Show.

AWARDS

• Bountiful Davis Art Center
• University of Utah
• Utah Arts Council
• Utah Watercolor Society

Contact this artist: mblundell@sdisportswear.com

Biography courtesy the artist.

Newspaper Articles

"2001 Mixed Media Worth Trip." The Deseret News, September 16, 2001.

"Coming Up: Visual Art." The Salt Lake Tribune, December 30, 2001.

"Showing at Local Galleries." The Deseret News, January 13, 2002.

Periodicals

Durham, Laura. "The Abstracting Influence of Paper." 15 Bytes. September 2001.

Watson, Tony. "The Ventilator On: The Nature of Abstraction of the B.D.A.C.." 15 Bytes. January 2002.