Joey Blazek
One of the most hazardous regular operations in marine transportation is the transfer of pilots to and from vessels, often in challenging conditions. In this 30-by-48-inch oil painting titled Matagorda Pilot Transfer, artist Joey Blazek depicts a ladder transfer between a small vessel and a tanker off the Texas Coastal Bend.
“It’s seat-of-your-pants stuff, getting on that ship and backing off of it,” says Blazek, who was born in Beaumont, Texas, and grew up surfing, fishing and sailing on the Gulf Coast. “I respect those guys greatly.”
Blazek’s family worked for Magnolia Petroleum Company (later incorporated into Mobil). His mother was in the marine department. “I was just fascinated by the ships and the industrial environment,” he says.
After graduating from Lamar University in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, Blazek became an art director and creative director before starting his own design firm, Blazek Design. His career in fine art didn’t begin until he took a sabbatical in the early 2000s to go sailing. “Then just kind of on a whim, I started doing a few paintings locally for some things, and I was surprised how well they were received,” he says.
Blazek started showing his work in a friend’s antiques shop. Blazek’s wife, Paula, eventually persuaded him to display at art shows. He won best of show his first time out, and more awards followed. “Then we started working our tails off doing shows, and it turned into a full-time job,” he says.
His paintings focus primarily on the coastal South, including the Gulf Coast’s wildlife and industrial, maritime and agricultural landscapes. “I started doing pilot boat paintings just because I was drawn to that,” he says. “I wasn’t really thinking anybody would find them interesting, but I just wanted to do them.”
Many of Blazek’s original pieces are based on reference photos he took in Sabine Pass and other areas with heavy marine traffic. Pilots noticed these pieces at festivals, and eventually, Blazek met a pilot who offered to send him images to paint. This painting is based on one of those photographs.
Blazek says he’s often told that his paintings look like they are moving. Some of the most meaningful feedback, he says, is that people say his artwork makes them feel happy. “It just brings a smile to them, and to me that means a whole lot,” he says.
At the peak of his career, Blazek was completing 70 to 80 paintings a year. Now, it’s about 20 to 30 originals annually, in addition to selling embellished canvas and paper prints.
This article was originally published in the February 2026 issue
