Born in Atchison, Kansas, Blair received his BFA from the University of Kansas and his MFA from Kansas City Art Institute. For 41 years, Carl Blair was professor of art at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C. Now retired, he continues to paint and exhibit throughout the Southeast.

Blair has a long history of awards and exhibitions. Exhibitions include Art in Embassies Program; Ringling Museum of Art; Morris Museum, Augusta, Ga.; Hunter Museum, Chattanooga, Tenn. In 1995, the Greenville Museum in Greenville, S.C., hosted a major retrospective of his work. Blair uses nature as his point of departure.