Nikos Blempoutzakis, whose artistic name is Ble, was born in a village in Hungary 43 years ago and started drawing when he was 18. He now lives in Athens, Greece with his wife Katherine, and their pet poodle.
Jo and I first noticed Ble when he posted his work in the group Arts from the Darkness~Open Minds which is directly related to the Facebook Page for this website, also named Arts from the Darkness.
He states that he believes H.R. Giger is the reason he began drawing and this makes perfect sense as the group is dedicated mainly to art related to that type of genre, although Expressionism is Ble’s favorite. Other artists that have influenced him include Zdzisław Beksiński, Eric Lacombe, Alberto Giacometti, Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh, Francisco Goya, Francis Bacon, and Lucian Freud. With such a varied scope of interest, it’s no wonder that his own work is so confident and aptly captures such dark emotion.
At present, he is only able to pursue his passion on a limited basis as he is also employed as a communications technician, although he yearns for the time when he will be able to give that up and concentrate solely on his art. He estimates that from beginning to finish, a piece can take as short a time as ten hours to complete or can take weeks to a month. Being able to dedicate his time entirely to his art would perhaps give added dimension as the time frames he must currently adhere to limits the time he has to devote himself to his preferred profession.
He enjoys travel and being with his wife as they enjoy doing things together of mutual interest. She is also an artist and that helps make their leisure time that much more enjoyable.
When asked what he thought he might be if not an artist, Ble answered that he thinks perhaps an inventor or a teacher. At 43 he considers himself to still be a beginning artist although he has been practicing his art for 25 years.
His advice to others who are new to the field or may be struggling is that they should seek professional instruction and take courses at an art school.
He also advises that you should follow your dreams and not pay attention to those who tell you otherwise and to always be true to your self. Sage advice to anyone at any time.
His favorite medium is charcoal.
His works have been shown for the last two years at the Aeon Gallery in Richmond, Illinois, located near Chicago here in the U.S.
He also is active on social media and you can find examples of his work at the following platforms, Instagram@ble_art, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/bleartwork/ and in his Etsy shop, https://etsy.me/2VohkEu.
If you would like to contact Ble for permission about using his work for any purpose you can do so by emailing him at nikosbleb@yahoo.gr.
The final piece I’m showing you is titled “Shame”, and I have to say that it would also be a shame if you didn’t check out the sites I’ve linked to so you can experience more of his work.
I was very surprised at the reasonable prices on his pieces that are for sale, both at Etsy and the Aeon gallery. Chances like this don’t come around that often from such a talented artist. INVEST!