‘GOD-GIVEN TALENT’
After a lifelong detour, Shelby artist returns to studio; community center to exhibit paintings
His grandmother knew he would become an artist.
As a young lad growing up in the small coastal town of Ilfracombe, nestled on England’s southwest shore, Frank Blowers spent a great deal of his time, sitting on the beach drawing the boats and other scenery in the harbor.
“My grandmother used to say, ‘Franky, you’ve got a Godgiven talent. Don’t waste it,’” said Blowers.
So, he took his grandmother’s advice, along with the sketch pad and can of pencils that she gave him, and went to work as an artist. He was only 5 years old mind you, but even then he understood depth of field and was able to capture the beauty that he saw in the boats leaning in the harbor at low tide. One sailor was so enamored with Blowers’ work that he purchased one of his drawings, setting off a spree of sales. After that, he became famously known as the lad on the beach.
“I was so excited,” said Bowers, whose exhibit of contemporary art will be on display at the Sterling Heights Community Center through the end of January.
Selling his work inspired him to do more but he was too young to realize what a feat it was to be an artist at that age. What excited him most about then, was being able to pass the shillings (about 82 cents U.S.) he got for his work on to his grandfather, and grandmother, took care of him and his mother and siblings, while his father worked to create a home for them here, in Michigan.
Being somewhat of a celebrity in town also had its privileges such as being invited to experience a day on the ocean fishing. Only instead of cod, mackerel and other fish, like all of the other men on the boat, Blowers ended up catching three big eels. “They told me nobody ever catches eels,” Blowers said. Yet, that’s all he caught and while he wasn’t sure what to make of the snakes in his bucket, each one fetched a pretty pound ($1 U.S.) from the buyers on the docks.
Three years later ,it was the fishing boats and freighters on Lake St. Clair that he admired from a distance.
“I was about 8 years old when we moved to Michigan,” said Blowers, who was among the first students to attend Kaiser Elementary School in Roseville. He went on from there to attend Roseville High School (class of 1965) and like many teenagers
living in the suburbs of Detroit became a fan of classic cars and the artwork of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, a cartoonist known for his funky drawings of cars and characters. Thanks to his high school art teacher, who helped to hone his skills as an artist, and his friends in school who supported his work by purchasing the drawings he created in class or the hot rod tees he painted using an airbrush technique similar to Roth, Blowers passion for art never faltered.
But a young man needs a car.
So, he took a job at the Chrysler Warren Truck Assembly Plant and while he thought about attending art school he was drafted into the Vietnam War before he got the chance. After serving in the U.S. Army (19661968), Blowers went to work as the assistant loan and collection officer for St. Clair Shores National Bank.
He never pictured himself becoming a banker, but it became a passion and newfound career that Blowers not only enjoyed but provided for his family.
“I liked it. I enjoy working with people,” Blowers said, and that’s what bankers do.
It’s also there at the bank that Blowers met his wife of nearly 54 years, Lynda.
He spent a decade at his first job, which helped to support his wife and their two daughters, who are now married and raising children of their own. His passion for people and the banking industry soon led him to become president of two other community banks in St. Clair Shores where he finished out his 40-year career. However, it was not until several years later after helping to set up a court finance committee and taking on the role of public relations and customer service representative for Wolverine Harley Davidson in Clinton Township that Blowers finally retired.
“Now I am free to do my art,” Blowers said, while setting a few of his paintings next to the display case at the community center.
“This is my pleasure. This is my fun and it’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was 5 years old,” added the contemporary artist from Macomb Township, whose abstracts have attracted the attention of artists across the state and even the country.
“I’ve been commissioned to do a painting for a doctor in New York City,” said Blowers, whose Instagram and Facebook pages have also created a following of fans in England including family members who all know the story of the lad on the beach.
As for what his grandmother would say about his success as an artist?
“She would say, ‘I told you so, Franky.’”