I was fortunate to grow up in a talented family surrounded by skilled musicians and supporters of the creative arts. My musical abilities were stimulated by starting the piano at age 4 years. For Christmas in my ninth year, I was given a cello and shortly after decided to concentrate my practice time on this instrument. This was followed by involvement in the Regina Junior Orchestra, the Regina Inter-collegiate Orchestra, and the Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra which were started and conducted by my father, Lloyd Blackman. Subsequently, at age 15, I became a member of the Regina Symphony Orchestra from 1966 to 1975.
My mother, Elisabeth (Betty) Blackman, fostered my creative writing talents with encouragement and attention to the various poems and reports. An interest in scenic photography was spurred by the family cottage located on Madge Lake in Duck Mountain Provincial Park, SK.
On becoming a born-again committed Christian in 1974, my interests turned to the ministry and attendance at the Canadian Theological College was undertaken for a semester. This ceased to be a direct focus when it became clear that my career was to be focused in the area of psychology. However, ministry activities have included many years as the treasurer of a local Moose Jaw church, several years as a deacon, many fruitful years assisting and leading the youth ministry of that church and playing the cello in the worship teams.
My career focused on the provision of psychological services for people with intellectual disabilities, but I continued to play the cello at church, Christian conferences and camps, student musicals, weddings, funerals, fund-raisers and social events. In retirement I've played oldtime favourites and gospel music on the cello for seniors in their residences and demonstrations to students in elementary schools.
Here is some of my creative talent - cello recordings*, poetry, recent poetry, videos, and scenic photos.
* My cello recordings are available online (at this site you can download the mp3 files for your personal use.) These are representative of the music which I play for community and educational events.
Click here for a complete list of my repertoire
A 2020 news article of my cello playing.