Blair Gordy Piras was born and raised in St. Francisville, Louisiana. She grew up deeply rooted in nature and gained a love and appreciation for natural beauty at an early age. She always hungered to understand deep truths about reality, was fascinated by the colorful illustrations of storybooks, and to the fantastic genre in general. She attended Saint Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For college she decided to attend Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. There she was immersed in the Catholic liberal arts tradition, and found the answers that she was hungry for. Through her studies in Humanities and Catholic Culture, Blair gained a well-rounded understanding of how ideas are the guiding factor for the material aspects of a society, and how their incorporation begins from the common way of life of the people. While Blair’s education informed her person, she still yearned to develop her artistic capacities. Blair, much to her delight, discovered a figurative art school focused on training artists in the Catholic tradition of sacred art and with a particular focus on “Theology of the Body”. This school is located in Florence, Italy. And so, Blair graduated college, got married and moved across the globe, all within 5 months, to actualize her dream of becoming an artist. There she completed a two year specialization course in painting. Blair returned to Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2017 and was honored to be the first artist in residence on campus. There she gained valuable teaching experience.