Artist Charles Blackwell stands in front of his paintings.

Artist Exhibition: LightHouse Features Blind Painter Charles Blackwell

On March 23, we hosted the opening of painter Charles Blackwell’s art exhibition in our headquarters building lobby at 1155 Market Street. Blackwell is a longtime member of the LightHouse community, and we are thrilled to provide a platform for his bright and expressive acrylic and pastel paintings, along with braille descriptions of each one.

“My blindness, in a sense, gives me the originality,” says artist Blackwell of his lively, jazz-inspired paintings, which are on display starting today in the 1155 Market Street lobby. “Before, I was trained. I could do a sketch of you in a minute and a half. I could have been a courtroom artist. I can’t do that no more, so I just had to take another approach. I use my fingers, I use the bottom of a paintbrush, I pour paint onto the paper. I’d much rather do that. That’s what I’m after — that improvisation, that serendipity.”

Blackwell’s paintings will be up in the lobby until October. Get a taste of photos and descriptions below, or come by our headquarters and ask at reception for braille or large print titles, prices, and descriptions of the paintings.

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A shot of the lobby with paintings hanging on the righthand wall as you walk in.

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An image of three paintings, from left to right: 

73 Miles Away X the Speed of Light     

24 x 39.5 inches

$1,400

Acrylic on Canvas

Quick, bold strokes of paint form the uneven figure of a saxophonist in the right quadrant of the canvas. The figure leans into his yellow and orange instrument. Short blue, gray, tan and green brush strokes give the background depth and accent an ovular silver and yellow globe in the top left corner.

(#5) Drummer in the Thick of It    

20 x 24 inches

$350

Acrylic on Canvas

A drummer keeps time with wire brushes on a pair of golden cymbals. He is seated, wearing green pants and blue shirt. His face sports a classic drummer’s grimace — as though he just settled into a particularly groovy beat. The paint strokes are thick and bold — black outlines filled with jewel tones of blue, pink, gold, yellow and green.

(#20) Hummin’ Down That One Lonely String

2011

30 x 40 inches

$1,600

Acrylic on Canvas

A bass player in a blue suit plays on a textured stand-up bass. His loosely depicted face is jovial. The background is a patchwork of lines in primary colors with a large golden orb in the top right and a window in the top left. The number 3 stands out against the lines in the background.

A standing, bowed saxophonist emerges into the canvas on the right. He plays a golden saxophone that is almost the length of his body. A smaller figure playing a trumpet is behind him. Both figures play into a silver old-fashioned microphone in the bottom left-hand corner of the canvas. Two golden spotlights hang in the top left corner of the image. The background is a repetitive rhythm of short, blunt strokes of blue, pink, purple, yellow and maroon.

(#1001) After the Movement of the Blue Note Mystery

24 x 30 inches

$880

Acrylic on Canvas

A standing, bowed saxophonist emerges into the canvas on the right. He plays a golden saxophone that is almost the length of his body. A smaller figure playing a trumpet is behind him. Both figures play into a silver old-fashioned microphone in the bottom left-hand corner of the canvas. Two golden spotlights hang in the top left corner of the image. The background is a repetitive rhythm of short, blunt strokes of blue, pink, purple, yellow and maroon.

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(#14) Savory Smoky 1967 Night Club

2013

26 x 34 inches

$875

Ink on Paper

A freely depicted trumpet player, saxophonist and drummer are grouped at the right of the painting, all in smoky tones. Their instruments are accentuated with yellow. The background is a warm wash of yellow with a few red accents.

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(#1004) Downstairs in the Dark of Blue with Rahsaan Roland Kirk Inflated

57 x 38 inches

$3,800

Acrylic on Canvas

Jazz artist Rahsaan Roland Kirk wears sunglasses and plays three saxophones at once. Directly behind him is a trumpet player, and in the background, a small bassist and a drummer. A mask adorns the wall and a banana hangs from the sky to the right of Kirk. All of the figures are made up of bold lively pinks, purples, yellows, reds and blues. The background is a deep blue patterned with straight but variable lines.

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Kulu se Mama in Conference with Moe Betta over Lucy

16 x 22 inches

$750

Acrylic on Canvas Board

Three African-inspired figures stand, statue-like, in a row. The smallest, on the left, is a female form, perhaps in the distance. The figure in the center is indigo blue and the other two are covered in geometric patterns in bright red and yellow.

Stop by our headquarters at 1155 Market Street to view the full exhibition!