About the Artist

I'm Erin Blade, the artist and maker behind Blade's Menagerie.  I've always been drawn to the unusual - things with a little history, a little character, and a story waiting to be told.

My formal education is in Graphic Design and Photography.  After my military career, I earned an associate degree from New Mexico State University.  I decided to pursue art and photography full-time and spent more than 20 years running my own photography studio.  I also spent several years painting murals and window art for local businesses.

Over the years, my creativity has evolved quite a bit.  These days, I've traded the camera for paint, clay, paper, found objects, and whatever else happens to spark an idea.  My work tends to live somewhere between functional art and storytelling.  I create paintings, sculptures, altered books, miniature worlds, and other wonderfully strange pieces that are difficult to fit into a single category.  This is where the "Menagerie" began.

Many pieces begin with an ordinary or forgotten object and gradually become somthing entirely different through plenty of experimentation.  I simply follow an idea wherever it leads. 

Blade's Menagerie is where my love of art, photography, and the wonderfully weird all collide.  Every piece is made to be discovered, enjoyed, and hopfully make you stop and look for a while with child-like wonder.