Meet Joe Blablazo | Artist/Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joe Blablazo and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Joe, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
Hi, I’m from the magical, dusty, desert lands of El Paso, TX. It is a border town with an incredibly rich history full of incredible stories from many diverse cultures. As I was growing up, my family told me a bunch of Native stories, Mexican legends, tall tales about cowboys, and warnings of spooky creatures like the chupacabra or “Reeves” the desert man with a pet anaconda, ha ha! I was constantly surrounded by lots of folklore, fears, celebrations, and jokes that filled my menudo-bowl head with hearty and inspirational ingredients for my own stories. Sometimes my stories materialize as comics. Other times, I try to conjure a single image that makes someone say to themselves, “What’s that about?” I want my art to inspire folks to make up their own stories!
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
If I had to describe my art, I guess I would call it “Folksy Futurist Horror w/Heart”, ha ha ha! I experiment a lot and, depending on the project, I work in multiple styles and mediums. When I choose projects or collaborations, I always ask myself “is this fun?” or “does this excite me?” because that fun and excitement needs to show in the work. While I’m mining the spicy melange of inspiration constantly swirling in my melon, I’m looking for images or ideas that I haven’t seen before. That fun and excitement has to be there because the work itself is time consuming and difficult. But if I’m having a blast making it, it shows up in the final product. It’s there in the line work, in the composition, in the colors. It’s definitely not easy to put your art (and yourself) out there to be critiqued by strangers. I would not be able to continue if not for the love, help, and support from family, friends, and fans. I used to think that I could do it all by myself, but that was foolish. Ask for help! Ask for feedback! Show everyone your work! Ignore the haters! Enjoy yourself!
At the end of the day I’m just tryin’ to make cool, original work that will give folks a little spook or a laugh.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Ooooh this is fun! Let’s see. There’s so many fun activities around here! Rockies games are always a blast. Mile High Comics is a sight to see for comic-book fans. Meow Wolf is a fun time. I love camping in the mountains with pals. There’s always good stand-up comedy downtown. When it comes to food, I’m a Wing-Boi… The best big ol’ bucket of wings for your buck awaits you at Rock Rest Lounge in Golden. There’s amazing Mexican food at Los Carboncitos. Oh, and I gotta take them to Casa Bonita! Prolly some beers at Joyride or The Crypt. Goldspot Brewing has mega-fun trivia nights. I’ve never been mad about finishing a night at Lakeview Lounge. I could go on… ha ha ha!!
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh dang, there is not enough room to shout out all of the incredible people I have been fortunate enough to have in my life! I can’t not mention my amazing wife who is so understanding of deadlines, late nights, and art junk all over the house. I’d also like to shout out Dan Crosier. He’s an outstanding artist, writer, filmmaker, and muralist who is constantly encouraging artists and organizing events to showcase the talent here in Denver. He’s got seemingly unlimited, contagious energy, and is one of the nicest dudes on the planet!
Website: www.joeblablazo.com
Instagram: @joeblablazo