Work samples

  • Delicate Flower
    Delicate Flower

    Etched phot of my parents wedding overlayed with delicate flower cut out of brass and copper

    Available for Purchase
  • Partition
    Partition

    Hand cut scene from daily walks on NCR trail. Depicting atmosphere of nature in metal.

  • Callistemon final.jpg
    Callistemon final.jpg
    Callistemon, Hand cut and etched brass and copper, 13.5 by 17 by 3
  • John Martin Conroy
    John Martin Conroy

    8 layers of cut paper make this portrait of my grandfather from WW1.

About Blake

Baltimore County

Blake M Conroy is from Aberdeen, Maryland. He holds a BFA from Maryland Institute, College of Art, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Blake is a recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award. In a world that commodifies nature, Blake shows us the individuality of every living thing. After drawing and laser-cutting images of the same subject viewed from different perspectives, he layers these multimedia sheets atop each other, forcing the viewer to look closely enough to… more

Delicate Flower

I etched an image of my parents wedding into a plate of copper. Then I cut a flower, "Fleabanes," a delicate weed flower. This symbolizes the transient nature of life. The etched photo all but disappears in the construction of the flower.a delicate flower made of metal.

  • Delicate Flower
    Delicate Flower

    Hand cut copper and brass

    Available for Purchase
  • Delicate Flower
    Delicate Flower

    Hand cut brass and copper

    Available for Purchase
  • Delicate Flower
    Delicate Flower

    Hand cut brass and copper

    Available for Purchase

Callistemon

This is a cut metal piece. It is composed of 3 layers, 2 brass and one copper. They are hand cut. The top two layers are an image of the flower "Callistemon" or bottle brush flower. The middle layer has etching of a butterfly that was cut through with the flower image. They evolved together. The bottom layer has dna from the virus called phiX174. It was the first organism sequenced in 1977 by Frederick Sanger. It is the foundation of life and this piece. This layer is also cut through with another image of a flower.
  • Callistemon final.jpg
    Callistemon final.jpg
    Callistemon, Hand cut and etched brass and copper, 13.5 inches by 17 inches by 3 inches,
  • Callistemon detail.jpg
    Callistemon detail.jpg
    Detail of Callistemon, Hand cut band etches copper and brass, 13.5 by 17 by 3
  • Day 1.jpg
    Day 1.jpg
    First day of cutting
  • Day 18.jpg
    Day 18.jpg
    Day 18 of cutting
  • Day 28 first layer complete.jpg
    Day 28 first layer complete.jpg
    First layer complete, Day 27
  • Day 32.jpg
    Day 32.jpg
    second layer, day 32
  • Day 42 second layer complete-firsta nd second layers.jpg
    Day 42 second layer complete-firsta nd second layers.jpg
    Day 42 first and second layers complete.
  • Day 49.jpg
    Day 49.jpg
    Day 49, third layer.
  • Day 57 patina 3rd layer 2.jpg
    Day 57 patina 3rd layer 2.jpg
    Day 57, patina of third layer.
  • Day 57 red wall detail.jpg
    Day 57 red wall detail.jpg
    Day 57, detail of completed piece.

Partition

Hand cut brass and copper. 

  • Partition
    Partition

    Hand cut Brass and Copper. 

Stream

Cut brass landscape.
  • PXL_20220819_153502485.jpg
    PXL_20220819_153502485.jpg
    Cut metal landscape in 3 layers. This was drawn from a photograph taken on the NCR gunpowder river trail.
  • PXL_20220620_152526858.jpg
    PXL_20220620_152526858.jpg
    Cutting the first layer.
  • PXL_20220624_002917045.jpg
    PXL_20220624_002917045.jpg
    Cutting brass
  • PXL_20220806_192653454.jpg
    PXL_20220806_192653454.jpg
    Working on the third layer.
  • image(1).jpg
    image(1).jpg
    Getting ready for framing.
  • PXL_20220819_153511009.jpg
    PXL_20220819_153511009.jpg
    Detail with patina.
  • PXL_20220822_184821491.jpg
    PXL_20220822_184821491.jpg
    Signature detail.

Cut Metal

Hand cut pieces in copper and brass.
  • Conjunction.jpg
    Conjunction.jpg
    Hand cut brass framed in sycamore. 8 Inches circular.
  • Fibonacci's mirror (2).jpg
    Fibonacci's mirror (2).jpg
    Fibonaccvi's Mirror, Hand cut brass and copper with sycamore frame, 12 by 8 by 4
  • Weevol.jpg
    Weevol.jpg
    Cut brass and copper . Cut and etched brass and copper on white oak carving with a sycamore frame. 20 inches by 16 inches by 3 inches.
  • Weevol detail.jpg
    Weevol detail.jpg
    Cut and etched brass and copper, 20 inches by 16 inches by 3 inches. Detail.
  • Cob.jpg
    Cob.jpg
    Hand cut copper. Image of corn cob, 11.75 inches by 8.5 inches.

Fossil

Pointillist sculpture of a dragonfly. Hundreds of hole drilled into a 1/4 steel plate and backlit.
  • Fossil.jpeg
    Fossil.jpeg
    Pointillist sculpture of a dragonfly drilled into a 1/4 thick steel plate and backlit.

Deep Inelastic Scattering

Two panels of painted cut aluminum.
  • Deep Inelastic Scattering.jpg
    Deep Inelastic Scattering.jpg

Definition of Monoculture

The image of a cornfield is a metaphor for the way we use the earth. It is a planned field with one crop that predominates.  The weeds, insects,  and microscopic life, anything not corn, in and around the cornfield are just an after thought. The area as a whole is not even in the picture. 

We are changing the environment for profit. Monsanto pioneered no-till farming with genetically engineered corn. Farmers using this system spray their fields with roundup (Glyphosate-based herbicides) to kill all the vegetation . The Glyphosate-based herbicides are supposed to degrade within two months and not stay in the soil. There is now evidence that this is not true and it builds up in the soil. Even more evidence suggests it is harmful to the smallest organisms at the base of the food chain. These crops, notably Corn, soybeans, and cotton have been genetically engineered to be unaffected by roundup. 

These genetically engineered and patented crops are then planted as seedlings. Roundup is also used to keep the weeds from growing later in the planting season. Because Monsanto patented these genetically modified seeds, they strictly control their use. They do not allow farmers to keep some of the harvest for replanting the following season. They aggressively sue anyone who has “their” plants in the fields and have not purchased the seeds from them that year.  Mostly they do this with aggressive Monsanto technology/stewardship agreements. These are contracts that the farmers are forced to sign in order to purchase seeds. These agreements provide for intrusive rights for Monsanto even into the third party agreement the farmers have with the r businesses. And Monsanto bullies smaller farmers and business who have limited funds to fight legal battles.

 Should one company be able to patent a crop? Corn has taken thousands of years and millions of people to develop. It has been traced to a grass from central America named teosinte. Is this litigious big business model our future? Do we want our future generations to have this legacy? What happens when something goes wrong? Who is responsible? Who should have prevented this?

  • Definition of Monoculture .jpeg
    Definition of Monoculture .jpeg
    Cut Paper Mural of a panoramic view of a cornfield
  • DSC_2468.JPG
    DSC_2468.JPG
    Definition of Monoculture (detail)

Rachel Carson

A portrait of Rachel Carson for the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day. The portrait is cut paper. It is a portrait of one of the preeminent founders of environmentalism. 
  • Rachel_Carson copy.jpg
    Rachel_Carson copy.jpg
    Cut Paper portrait of Rachel Carson

Rocket Pride

Collaboration with Nicole F Fall. We installed a 20 foot sculpture we designed and fabricated with the students at Katherine Johnson Global Academy. The students collaborated on the design as well as modeling for the silhouettes. The rockets orbiting the piece the designs of the students. The sculpture is in the lobby of their school. The project was funded by Msac through the Art Across Maryland program.

  • Rocket Pride, Lobby View
    Rocket Pride, Lobby View

    Lobby View

  • Rocket Pride, Model
    Rocket Pride, Model

    Model

  • Rocket Pride, Kid's Rocket 5
    Rocket Pride, Kid's Rocket 5

    Kid's Rocket 5

  • Rocket Pride, Rocket 4
    Rocket Pride, Rocket 4

    Kid's Rocket 4

  • Rocket Pride, Kid's Rocket 3
    Rocket Pride, Kid's Rocket 3

    Kid's Rocket 3

  • Rocket Pride, Rocket 2
    Rocket Pride, Rocket 2

    Kid's Rocket 2

  • Rocket Pride, Rocket 1
    Rocket Pride, Rocket 1

    Kid's Rocket 1

  • Rocket Pride, dedication
    Rocket Pride, dedication

    Dedication of the sculpture