Ken Smith Historical Art

Arrival of the Buffs – A New Painting by Ken Smith

2009-09-27T10:39:00.003-05:00

Vonore, Tennessee, Sept. 12, 2009. The war paint speaks loudly as three Cherokee Warriors sit waiting on the outskirts of Fort Loudoun. They watch the Provincials that have come to provide provisions for the Independent Company of South Carolina, who are garrisoned at the British fort in what would become known today as Vonore, Tennessee. The year is 1759 and this is the subject of the latest Ken Smith historical art print commemorating the 250th anniversary of the life of Fort Loudoun. A limited edition of 250 prints will be available for sale to the public, and the art will be on permanent loan to the Fort Loudoun Association, to be displayed at the Fort Loudoun State Historic Area Visitor Center..

This is the forth painting by Smith in the five-year build-up to the 250th anniversary of the fall of Fort Loudoun. The Fort Loudoun Association commissioned Smith to create historical paintings based on events of each year of the fort’s existence. The first painting was Over the Hills: Sergeant Gibbs and the Advance Party, which depicted the partnership between the Cherokee and the Redcoats in securing a site for the building of the fort. The second painting was Mud and Blood: Carolina Builds a Fort in the Overhills. A grimy crew begin the tiring process of building the structures of the fort and its protective earthworks. The third was Hard Bargain: The Cherokee Prepare for War, which depicts the British leadership of the fort supplying their allies, the Cherokee, with guns to help fight the French.

The current painting’s subject is more terse then the other three before it. In this, there is a definite division between the Cherokee and the British. Hostilities are mounting, in what will culminate with the Cherokee besieging the fort and the eventual massacre of thirty-three members of the garrison at Cane Creek after the British surrendered the fort.

“It’s interesting to depict the declining relationship between the British and their Cherokee allies. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all turns out,” says Smith about his latest painting.

Smit is the recent recipient of the U.S. Coast Guard Art Program’s George Gray Award for Artistic Excellence for his painting Air Station Savannah. In Knoxville, Smith’s Over the Hills from the Fort Loudoun series is prominently featured in the Museum of East Tennessee History’s permanent exhibit.

Arrival of the Buffs was unveiled Saturday, September 12, 2009, during Fort Loudoun’s Annual Colonial Trade Faire and will remain at the park’s Visitor Center after the Trade Faire is concluded. Limited edition prints of Arrival of the Buffs are available for purchase, as well as prints from the previous years.

For more information about Fort Loudoun’s Colonial Trade Fair or to purchase prints, call Angie King at Fort Loudoun State Historic Area (432-884-6217), or visit www.kensmithhistoricalart.com.

Ken Smith Wins Coast Guard Art Program Award

2009-09-27T10:35:00.002-05:00

Sort of a late post (but better late than never, they say)

Air Station Savannah, the oil painting pictured in the previous blog post, has won the Coast Guard Art Program’s George Gray Award for Artistic Excellence

Each year the United States Coast Guard recognizes one artist from among that year’s many submissions to the Coast Guard Art Program (COGAP) to receive the coveted George Gray Award for Artistic Excellence. This year’s recipient is Radford University professor Ken Smith for his painting, Air Station Savannah, depicting AET2 Taylor Anderson (Avionics Electrical Technician) pausing in her work aboard the HH-65 Dolphin helicopter at Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, near Savannah, Georgia.

Potential Coast Guard artists apply for acceptance into the COGAP program, and if accepted, are then allowed to submit works for possible inclusion in the Coast Guard’s Permanent Art Collection. The 2009 additions to the collection include 34 works by 19 artists. Of these, one work is selected to receive the George Gray Award for Artistic Excellence. Smith’s painting, Air Station Savannah, was granted this honor for 2009. A participant in the Coast Guard Art Program for the past two years, Smith was one of only six artists who were chosen for official Coast Guard Artist deployment in 2008, from which the painting Air Station Savannah was created.

Mary Ann Bader, coordinator of the Coast Guard Art Program says, “This year's collection was among the very best collections we've had, so the competition for the award was very pronounced. [Ken Smith’s] excellent and stunning painting captivated the jurors as well as all present that evening.”

The George Gray Award is named after one of the co-founders of COGAP. Gray was an artist for more than seven decades and served as the chairman of COGAP for over 20 years. The Coast Guard Art Program uses visual arts to communicate the history and the current life of this branch of military service. The collection, which includes over 1,800 works, is shown at galleries, museums, and Coast Guard bases, as well as at other U.S. government locations both at home and abroad. To learn more about the United States Coast Guard Art Program, visit http://www.uscg.mil/community/Art_Program.asp.

Air Station Savannah will be included in a number of works to be displayed this fall at the Pritzker Military Library in downtown Chicago.

Adventures with the Coast Guard

2009-03-31T09:50:00.003-05:00

I am involved with the Coast Guard Art Program and here is my latest press release about it.

Press Release

United States Coast Guard Accepts Ken Smith Painting into their Permanent Collection

WHO: Ken Smith, Historical Artist

WHAT: Air Station Savannah, an oil painting by Ken Smith has a new home at the United States Coast Guard Permanent Collection

WHEN: March 2009

WHERE: Coast Guard Art Program

AET 2 Taylor Andersen stands firmly, well grounded in spite of the fact that she is standing on the roof of a blaze orange Coast Guard helicopter. She looks directly at you with an unwavering gaze – strong, confident, and empowered in her homeland security duties – and captured forever in this moment by the vision and brushstrokes of artist and illustrator, Ken Smith.

Smith, who has been a participant in the Coast Guard Art Program (COGAP) for the past two years, chose to depict the service of female Coast Guard members in this year’s painting. Smith was one of only six COGAP artists who were chosen for official Coast Guard Artist deployment in 2008 – each being tasked to travel to various USCG bases to research their subject matter. It was this assignment that took him to St, Mary’s, Georgia and on to Air Station Savannah during the summer of 2008.

“The Coast Guard can be one of the most dangerous branches of all the Services, not only dealing with homeland security tasks, but often also at odds with weather and sea. I am privileged to be able to add my voice to the throng of Americans who appreciate their dedication and commitment. ” Smith says about being a part of COGAP.

Chosen by the Excellence Committee of the Salmagundi Club, a New York City artistic and cultural center for over 130 years, Ken Smith’s painting, Air Station Savannah, is now part of the United States Coast Guard Permanent Collection. Smith will be honored with a commendation at a formal acceptance ceremony at the Salmagundi Club in New York this summer.

The Coast Guard Art Program uses visual arts to communicate the history and the current life of this branch of military service. The collection, which includes over 1,800 works, is shown at galleries, museums, and Coast Guard bases, as well as at other U.S. government locations both at home and abroad. To learn more about the United States Coast Guard Art Program, visit http://www.uscg.mil/community/Art_Program.asp.

Smith currently is an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Radford University in Radford, VA. He holds a BFA from the University of Tennessee, an MA from Syracuse University and a MFA from the University of Hartford. He is also available for commissions and portraits. To see more of Smith’s work, visit www.kensmithhistoricalart.com.

The 2009 Radford University Addy Award Winners

2009-03-09T18:51:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to all those Radford University students who participated in the 2009 South Western Virgina Addy Awards, sponsored by the The Advertising Federation of the Roanoke Valley.

Pictured above are award winners (from left to right) Benjamin Rush (two gold, one silver), Zachary Bush (four gold, one silver), Nathan Long (silver), Chelsea Alayna Clark (one gold, two silver).

Hard Bargain

2008-09-11T06:52:00.003-05:00

I've just released the third in the series of the Fort Loudoun Anniversary prints. Full press release below.

Hard Bargain: The Cherokee Prepare for War – A New Painting by Ken Smith

WHO: Ken Smith, Historical Artist

WHAT: Hard Bargain: The Cherokee Prepare for War, 1758, Painting to be Unveiled at Colonial Trade Fair

WHEN: September 6, 2008

WHERE: Fort Loudoun State Historic Area and www.kensmithhistoricalart.com

Vonore, Tennessee. Carefully inspecting the English gifts, Sower Hominey, the Great Conjurer of Chotee [sic], a chief of the Overhill Cherokee, weighs the pros and cons of helping the British in their war against the French. Ensign Bogges of the Independent Company of South Carolina watches for signs of acceptance, while trader Samuel Benn contemplates this depletion of his assets. British regular and Cherokee warriors stand as mute witness to this scene of war-making in March of 1758. These are the figures portrayed in Ken Smith’s latest historical painting commemorating the 250th anniversary of the life of Fort Loudoun. A limited edition of 250 prints will be available for sale to the public, and the art will be on permanent loan to the Fort Loudoun Association, to be displayed at the Fort Loudoun State Historic Area Visitor Center..

This is the third painting by Smith in the five-year build-up to the 250th anniversary of the fall of Fort Loudoun. The Fort Loudoun Association commissioned Smith to create historical paintings based on events of each year of the fort’s existence. The first painting was Over the Hills: Sergeant Gibbs and the Advance Party, which depicted the partnership between the Cherokee and the Redcoats in securing a site for the building of the fort. The second painting was Mud and Blood: Carolina Builds a Fort in the Overhills. A grimy crew began the tiring process of building the structures of the fort and its protective earthworks.

The third painting, though still showing the camaraderie between the Cherokee and British, beings to foreshadow the darker history of the fort. An ominous cloud looms above the gathering and there is a subtle divide between the sides - the Cherokee to one side and the British to the other. A dissension between the factions will continue to present itself in next year’s artwork, and will culminate dramatically in the fifth and final painting of the series, the massacre at Cane Creek.

“A Hard Bargain shows the ambivalent attitude between the Cherokee and the British. The Cherokee warrior is surely driving a hard bargain, but he’s also dealing with the inevitable results of the Cherokee people’s growing dependence on the English trade goods,” the artist says about his latest painting.

Smith’s painting, Over the Hills, may also look familiar to those who have not yet visited historic Fort Loudoun, as it is prominently featured in the new Museum of East Tennessee History’s permanent exhibit. Also included in the exhibit is another Ken Smith painting of the Fort Loudoun, which is not included in the fort's commemoration series.

Hard Bargain was unveiled Saturday, September 6, 2008, during Fort Loudoun’s Annual Colonial Trade Faire and will remain at the park’s Visitor Center after the Trade Faire is concluded. Limited edition prints of Hard Bargain are also available for purchase at this time, as well as prints from the previous years.

For more information about Fort Loudoun’s Colonial Trade Fair or to purchase prints, call Angie King at Fort Loudoun State Historic Area (432-884-6217), or to see more of Smith’s work, visit www.kensmithhistoricalart.com.

N*tranced to Host An Artist Reception for Ken Smith’s Newest Art Series - The Victorian Actress

2008-08-18T11:29:00.004-05:00

WHO: N*tranced Hypnosis and Guided Meditation and Ken Smith, Historical Artist

WHAT: N*tranced to Host An Artist Reception for Ken Smith’s Newest Art Series - The Victorian Actress

WHEN: August 29, 2008 from 5 pm to 9 pm

WHERE: N*tranced Hypnosis and Guided Meditation

Maryville, Tennessee. Stepping into the office of hypnotist L.S. King, one sees a space that is comfortable, non-sterile, and artistic. On one wall, a dark haired Sarah Bernhardt laments her passions as Lady MacBeth, as does a reposed Helena Modjeska as Marguerite Gautier from Camille. Lillie Langtry lounges mischievously as Rosalind from As You Like It, while Maud Adams has all the confidence of Peter Pan. Ellen Terry’s Ophelia majestically deals with her Hamlet madness. Mary Anderson chooses to go back on her pedestal as Galatea from Pygmalion and Galatea. These six actresses, as painted by historical artist Ken Smith, have found temporary domicile at N*tranced where they await their adoring public.

On Friday, August 29, 2008, from 5 pm to 9 pm, the public is invited to the unveiling and public showing of this latest series by Ken Smith. The original oil paintings will be displayed and limited edition giclee prints will be available for purchase.

“We are very excited to be able to host this reception for Ken Smith and his new series of paintings. Though N*tranced is a business office, we strive to create a true gallery experience in Maryville, and Mr. Smith’s work is a fine example of the talent located in the heart of East Tennessee,” says L.S. King, owner of N*tranced.

Smith, whose art work for the Fort Loudoun State Historic Area was recently featured in Tennessee Conservationist magazine, is a good fit for the hypnotic space. When beginning the Fort Loudoun project, Smith used hypnosis (from N*tranced) to help visualize the first painting in that series (which can be seen at the park visitor center in a gallery area dedicated to his original artwork). Ms. King wished to honor the creative process by premiering this new series of Victorian Actresses at her office in Maryville.

N*tranced Hypnosis and Guided Meditation is located at 305 College Street in downtown Maryville, Tennessee. For more information or directions, please contact L.S. King at 865-406-1135 or visit www.n-tranced.com. To learn more about the art work of Ken Smith, visit www.kensmithhistoricalart.com.

Fort Loudoun Paintings Featured in Magazine

2008-07-14T09:02:00.004-05:00

WHO: Ken Smith, Historical Artist

WHAT: Tennessee Conservationist Includes an Article About Historical Artist Ken Smith and His Fort Loudoun Painting Commission

WHEN: July 2008

WHERE: Tennessee Conservationist Magazine

When flipping through the pages of this month’s Tennessee Conservationist, one cannot help but notice an article about historical artist Ken Smith and his Fort Loudoun Painting series. Looking at the two completed oil paintings, one is taken back in time to the beginnings of the British occupation of the fort site in what is now Vonore, Tennessee. Maybe it is the regal Cherokee chief in “Over the Hills” or the desperation seen in the faces of the provincial solider in ”Mud & Blood” that allows one to forget about the modern chaos of society. However, there is more to preserving these moments artistically than putting oil on canvas; planning, coordinating, composing, researching the details, and an amount of sweat that one might leave one astonished.

This month’s issue of the Tennessee Conservationist magazine chronicles the process that Smith uses to create his oil paintings. In the article “Oil and Sweat: An Artist’s Perspective of the History of Ft. Loudoun,”, Smith provides a behind-the-scenes look at these paintings commissioned by the Fort Loudoun Association for the park’s 250th anniversary of its founding. This is a five-year project, with each year adding a new depiction of the time when Red Coats and Cherokees roamed East Tennessee. The article discusses the very human aspects of Smith's work including his models and their experience in the artistic process.

“I always find it interesting to see the behind-the-scenes activity that goes into a piece of visual art, and I’m happy that Tennessee Conservationist readers will have a chance to see a little of the artistic process of the Fort Loudoun series” Smith says about the article.

Tennessee Conservationist is published bi-monthly by the State of Tennessee’s Department of Environment and Conservation. For information about the magazine, visit http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/tn_consv/.

For more information about Fort Loudoun (and to buy your own limited edition print of these paintings) go to www.fortloudoun.com.

Smith is the Creative Director for Media South, a creative services company in Knoxville, Tennessee. He holds a BFA from the University of Tennessee, an MA from Syracuse University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Hartford. He is also available for commissions and portraits. To see more of Smith’s work, visit www.kensmithhistoricalart.com.

Take Action: Don't Let Congress Orphan Your Work.

2008-05-20T09:05:00.002-05:00

In the unlikely event that you haven't already heard about the Orphaned Works bill before congress, here is a summary of objections--from the following website that also makes it easy for you to communicate with your members of Congress:

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

This particular information is under "For Visual Artists - The Bullet Point Letter," but feel free to use any of the templates on the web site; when you fill out your address, your members of Congress will be automatically identified.

***

The Orphan Works Act has the potential to do great harm to those of us who create intellectual property. It is based on the Copyright Office’s study of orphaned work - yet the authors of that study have exceeded their mandate by extrapolating a widespread failure in commercial markets. This is an area which they never studied. If the intent of this bill is to find a way for museums, libraries and other not-for-profit institutions to legally exploit the creative work of authors who are hard to find, the authors should not rely on undocumented assertions about markets in which they conducted no studies.

For the record, I am alive, working and managing my copyrights. I can be located. I take steps to make myself accessible. Yet this law dictates that if any user fails to find me, that constitutes a market failure. No, that constitutes a human failure. Clients who work in my markets find me all the time.

This bill would expose countless works like mine to abuse. It would endanger any form of visual art - from professional paintings to family snapshots. It would affect any picture ever put on the internet. Visual art is especially vulnerable because an artist’s work can be published without his signature or credit line, or because credit lines can be removed by others. The widespread orphaning of images will harm not only artists, but all who work in collateral small businesses such as artists representatives, directories and source books, web site designers as well as all those industries which license art and anyone in the image-making public.

In the interest of brevity, I’ll list some basic objections I and other copyright holders have to this bill.

The bill is written so broadly its use cannot be confined to true orphaned work.
It would permit an infringer to determine when he or she has made a “reasonable effort” to locate me - even though the infringer would have a financial interest in not locating me.
It would be retroactive, which means I would be penalized for not complying with laws which didn’t exist at the time I did the work.
It would expose my future work to infringement immediately upon creation, even though I am alive, in business and managing my copyrights.
It would place an impossible burden of diligence on me to protect my work, because infringements can occur anytime, anywhere in the world.
It would force me into court to contest the diligence of an infringer’s search for me, yet it would remove any meaningful remedies for infringement.
This means I would lose the only means the law gives me to enforce copyright compliance.
It would force me into court to prove the value of my work, after the work had already been infringed and my exclusive right of copyright was lost;
Yet it would limit “reasonable compensation” to whatever sum an infringer had established as a market rate for his use of orphaned work.
By “limiting remedies,” the bill guarantees that the cost of suing an infringer could exceed whatever sum I might recover in a successful court action.
Yet it would set no limits on the amount an infringer could win from me in a counter suit.
It would deny me injunctive relief in situations where the entirety of my work has been used in a so-called “transformative” work.
Which would be a gold mine for infringers, who could harvest “orphans,” re-cast them as derivatives, then copyright the derivatives.
At present, the law does not allow infringers to claim my work by infringing it, but this bill would let them.
This bill would rob me of my exclusive right of copyright, which in the marketplace triples the fee I can get for one-time usage.
This means my entire inventory of work would be devalued by 2/3 the moment this bill takes effect.
This bill would prevent me from restricting the use of my art on cheap or distasteful products or on products competitive with my paying clients.
And it could drive my work into low-end markets where I would otherwise never license my work.
While the bill would not legislate “registries,”it would have the same effect, by exposing to infringement the work of artists who don’t impose registration on themselves.
This would force me to pay protection money to businessmen to keep something I’ve created myself.
This would violate existing copyright law, which says “Under current law, works are covered whether or not a copyright notice is attached and whether or not the work is registered.” http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Copyright#copyright:_an_overview
It would force all visual artists to expose our lives’ work to infringement to subsidize the start-up of commercial registries.
These registries would rely on image-recognition technology, which is still in its infancy and not reliable.
Also, no registry will be meaningful until all pictures which anyone wishes to protect have been registered.
Otherwise, any picture not found in a registry will be considered an orphan by users wishing to document a “reasonably diligent search.”
This means commercial registries will actually orphan copyright-protected work.
Which means the bill will have the opposite effect to its stated intent.

To sum up, the Orphan Works Act exceeds its mandate by promising to make orphans of any work whose author any infringer fails to find.

It fails to properly define the category of orphaned work.
It sets the infringer’s bar of due diligence so low it guarantees abuse.
It would force into the courts countless business decisions which should be made in the marketplace.
It creates problems which do not now exist, but which would require the expansion of the Federal judiciary system to solve.

Sweet Home Alabama a la Russ

2008-04-01T21:45:00.003-05:00

This is just too good not to pass along.

The Leningrad Cowboys (a Finnish rock band) singing Sweet Home Alabama with the Red Army Choir

And besides, Sweet Home Alabama is not all that different from The Motherland Calls, is it.

Le Monument aux Morts

2008-02-26T20:23:00.012-05:00

From these last two posts you'd think I have an abiding interest in sculpture, particularly war sculpture, but...well actually, maybe I do.

I recently had the opportunity to visit the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, a rather remote place about 30 minutes from Interstate 81 in Southwest Virginia. Bedford has the unfortunate distinction of being the community that lost the most boys on D-Day (nineteen).

The D-Day Memorial is a basically a memorial park, conceptually similar in many ways to the WW2 memorial in Washington. There are a number of sculptures around the site, which I'll leave to you to check out on your own here: www.dday.org, but there was one particular piece that caught my eye, distastefully at first, brilliantly on reflection.

It's called Le Monument aux Morts (which apparently means "war memorial"). The statue is a replica of an original memorial statue by Edmond de Laheudrie, that was dedicated in 1920 in the town of Trevieres, France in memory of 43 French soldiers from Trevieres who were killed in World War One. The statue is a classical female victory figure in pseudo-Poilu garb holding a sword.

Twenty-four years later, on June 8, 1944, Trevieres found itself in the the middle of not only a war, but a battle, during which the memorial itself was struck in the head by shrapnel, removing its jaw and most of its throat. After World War Two ended, the town elected to not repair the statue, but to keep it as it was, a mute and disturbing symbol of the fragility of the peace.

In 2002 the original Laheudrie statue was recast, battle damage and all, and presented by the Wildenstein family, the mayor of Trevieres and the Consul General of Calvados to the D-Day Memorial, marking the second time that the nation of France has presented a statue to the United States.

My companion described it as "very creepy and wonderful," which it is, and a most fitting memorial to the D-Day invasion and World War Two in general.

A United States M.P. and a Trevieres resident examine the fallen statue in the Summer of 1944.

SmartFlix

2008-02-02T09:53:00.000-05:00

Those of you have ever considered buying instructional art videos should go check out SmartFlix.com.

They have an extensive collection of those usually super-expensive DVDs that I always wanted to see, but always cost too much to buy (and of course the library never has them).

They have all of Richards Schmid's landscape DVDs, which are great (I've rented them all), and they have Burt Silverman's (my favorite figure painter) DVDs. I own one of Silverman's programs on VHS, but it's such a pain to get that player to work, I just rented the DVD.

They have an affiliate program, too. So if you click through here, I get some sort of credit (so by all means click through here).

They have a bunch of non-art stuff too of course (car repair, home repair, etc) and a huge collection of Digital Art DVDs--photoshop, illustrator, flash, etc (speaking of super expensive).

Great resource!

And by the way, if you see something cool that you'd recommend, please let me know!

The Motherland Calls

2008-01-18T09:41:00.000-05:00

"The Motherland Calls" is the name of the giant statue on the hill called Mamayev Kurgan, in the city of Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, Russia (note the scale by the person standing on her base)

Today I decided it would be nice to have a statuette of this famous sculpture to put on my desk as an inspiration. In case you haven't heard (and most in the west haven't), "The Motherland Calls" (also called "Mother Motherland," or just "The Motherland," Rodina Mat) was the tallest statue in the world when it was built in 1967 (279 feet). It sits on Mamayev Kurgan, the hill overlooking Stalingrad and, in 1942, offering control of the city to whichever army could take it. Ultimately the Soviets took it, and this statue was erected 24 years later in commemoration of their victory over the Nazis.

I never found a souvenir statue for my desk; perhaps the Russians take their monuments more seriously than we do and won't demean them by turning them into souvenirs. Or maybe I just didn't look in the right place. However, I did find the following story; an interview with the woman who originally modeled for "The Motherland Calls."

From www.gateway2russia.com

***

15 November 2003 01:45

Statuesque beauty. It took six months for artists to persuade Valentina Izotova to take her top off for the Motherland. Now she`s glad she did:

When the sculptors asked me to model for a statue to commemorate the tremendous sacrifice of our Red Army boys at Stalingrad, how could I refuse? But I was horrified when they insisted I pose nude. This was the early 1960s and respectable girls simply didn't take their clothes off for anyone other than their husbands. Artists - even revered and famous sculptors such as Lev Maistrenko, who was working on the memorial - didn't mean anything to a woman of 26.

It was Lev who approached me. I was working as a waitress at the city's top restaurant, the Volgograd - it's still there today - and usually worked in an area reserved for top Communist Party functions or visiting delegations. Lev told me I was beautiful and embodied all the physical and moral qualities of the perfect Soviet woman. Of course I was flattered - who wouldn't be? Curiosity got the better of me and I agreed to model.

Of course none of us had a clue how famous Rodina Mat would become. Today Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) is as famous for this statue as for the terrible battle that took place here. My husband didn't like the idea of my posing for a group of artists sent from Moscow. He was terribly jealous and drove me to the studios they had set up in an old gas appliance factory for each and every session. After a while it became like any other job - I barely thought about standing there in my bikini and certainly welcomed the three roubles a day I was paid, which was a decent sum of money then. But it was six months before I finally relented and gave in to the sculptors' pleas to take my top off and bare my breasts. But that was all. I never budged in my determination to retain some modesty and never posed entirely in the nude. That was unthinkable. No one outside my family and immediate circle of friends ever knew about it.

Soon after I had completed my modelling duties I left to study for the first of my two degrees - I'm trained as an economist and an engineer. Later I left Volgograd altogether to live and worked in the polar mining city of Norilsk. After the statue was unveiled in 1967 I didn't give it much thought and just got on with my life. I came home in the early 1990s. I clearly remember that long train journey because hyper-inflation was taking off and the considerable sum of money that I set out with was practically worthless by the time I arrived. It was not an easy time. I, like many others, put my trust - and money and share vouchers - into money-making schemes. Of course it all turned out to be a scam and a lot of ordinary people lost everything. That's how I turned to social and political activism.

Today I am director of a charitable foundation to protect the rights of cheated investors and am running in December's State Duma (parliament) elections as a candidate for the United Russia Party. It's for this reason, mostly, that I decided to break nearly 40 years of silence. In the past few years the statue has become increasingly famous - you see its image everywhere. Now people recognise me in the street - not straight away - I'm not the slender young thing I was, but my features are still recognisable as those of Rodina Mat. She has stood there for nearly 40 years, her sword symbolising the defence of our homeland, one arm beckoning our men forward, mouth open in a cry of defiance. It's not me precisely, but I suppose there are elements of me in her. I no longer feel any shame in having taken off my clothes - I'm proud of what I did, proud of the sacrifice Russia made to defend itself during those dark days of the war.

I was very young during the war, but I shall never forget being evacuated from Stalingrad, along with my mother. We spent two years in Ukraine, sleeping in barns, a miserable time. The shock of coming home in 1943 to a city obliterated by war is still with me. That first winter, studying in school buildings with no roofs, I shall never forget. The Russian people still need defenders. I don't suppose that I shall be elected in December - but at least I can use what little fame Rodina Mat gives me to fight for the rights of ordinary people.

-- As told to Nick Holdsworth Valentina Izotova, a 68-year-old grandmother, was the model for Russia's most famous Soviet war memorial, Rodina Mat (Motherland Mother). For nearly 40 years she kept silent about her part in its creation

Figure Painting Classes Coming Soon!

2008-01-13T23:48:00.000-05:00

Starting February 6th, I'll begin teaching a six-session class on Painting the Human Figure through U.T.'s non-credit program. This is a class for beginners, but there are usually a variety of skill levels represented. This session I'll be revising my syllabus a bit from the previous years. Typically the class begins with a monochrome painting from a mannequin (because she sits very still), followed by a portrait and then a figure. This session I plan to begin with gesture drawings of the full figure and try to move more quickly to full color paintings, and I'm probably going to try to end the class with a clothed pose using either a dancer or a Yoga practitioner. Should be interesting.

Here's the official class announcement:

Working from live models, this introductory class will focus on depicting the human form through a naturalistic use of light, shadow, and color. Emphasis will be on simplifying the complex human form and developing a process by which it can be realistically portrayed. Instruction will be geared toward the use of oil, but other mediums are welcome. Knowledge of your chosen medium will be helpful, but no previous experience with figurative art is required. A materials list can be found online at www.outreach.utk.edu/ppd and a model fee of $25-50 (depending on enrollment) will be payable to the instructor at the first class.

A materials list can be found on our web site at www.outreach.utk.edu/ppd A model fee of approximatedly $25- $50 (depending on enrollment) is payable to the instructor at first class.

And here's a link to the signup page at U.T.:
https://aceweb.outreach.utk.edu/CourseStatus.awp?~~282218

Dr. Anderson, I presume?

2007-12-02T18:46:00.000-05:00

Dr. Maurice Anderson, was the surgeon of the Independent Company of South Carolina while garrisoned at Fort Loudoun in the Overhill Cherokees, near present-day Vonore, Tennessee.

Dr. Anderson was present at the start of the French and Indian War, being at the Battle of Great Meadows (and Fort Necessity) with the Independent Company and George Washington, who was then a Colonel of Virginia militia.

Anderson was later assigned as surgeon of the troops headed to Fort Loudoun, and served there with great distinction until 1760, when he was ambushed and killed by natives who were besieging the fort.

The model for this portrait of Dr. Anderson is Sam Reed, Tennessee State Park Ranger, who often portrays Maurice Anderson during the living history programs at Fort Loudoun State Historic Area.

For a schedule of upcoming events at Fort Loudoun, and the opportunity to see Dr. Anderson in action, visit the Fort Loudoun web site at http://www.fortloudoun.com.

Moving pictures

2007-10-11T22:24:00.000-05:00

I'm working on getting the actress series of giclee prints ready for prime time (which won't be long). The scans are done and color-corrected, and I'm currently trying determine the best paper to print the whole set on (I'm leaning toward a smooth Crane drawing paper). They're looking very cool, if I do say so myself.

In the meantime, here's a blast from the not so distant past. Last July (of 06) "Alive at Five," a show on WBIR-TV did a brief feature on my work while it was hanging at the Blount Mansion gallery in downtown Knoxville.

So no sense missing an opportunity for some multi-media blog-o-tainment.

Mud & Blood: the art is in

2007-09-05T21:52:00.000-05:00

Well, this one was all explained in the last post, so not much left to say.

The original art is 28.5 x 36 inches, oil on masonite panel. I have an ongoing internal discussion about what to paint on. "The Web" is inconclusive about whether masonite (or hardboard) is archival or not. I've been using it for years, so I hope it's okay. This particular piece of hardboard was 3/16 inches thick, which is too flimsy for a piece this size, so I braced it with 1x3 spruce with masonite corners, which makes it rigid, but pretty darned heavy. I like MDO board, which is what the actresses are painted on, but for this last painting I bought single-sided MDO which had a totally different (ie: ripple-y) and unacceptable surface, and the two-sided was unavailable, which is why this is on masonite/hardboard. I've heard that MDF board is good, but I haven't tried that. I considered birch panels, but I don't think the panel seam would be completely invisible, which would be a problem. I could use canvas I suppose, but I prefer a rigid surface (I guess I could mount it), and I don't really like painting over all that weaving. Problems, problems.

The oil painting was photographed by Tony Long (www.tweekthis.com), and he did a phenomenal job. Tony uses a new, totally digital setup that makes unbelievably detailed reproductions of flat art. And he's a first rate color guy too, so the colors are about as good as they can be. I'll write more about that later when the actress prints are released.

Oh, and perhaps I should say that the image size is 14" x 17 3/4 ", overall print size is 18" x 24". Print cost is $95 plus $18 shipping and handling (and sales tax, if applicable). You can purchase it at www.kensmithhistoricalart.com (which also answers to www.godsavethesouth.com)

Mud & Blood: coming soon!

2007-08-31T21:04:00.000-05:00

I took my latest painting off to be scanned today, and I should have a posting of the image by next Tuesday.

In the meantime, here's the Press Release:

***

Mud and Blood – A New Painting by Ken Smith

WHO: Ken Smith, Historical Artist

WHAT: The Building of Ft. Loudoun, 1757, Painting to be Unveiled at Colonial Trade Fair

WHEN: September 8, 2007

WHERE: Fort Loudoun State Historic Area and www.kensmithhistoricalart.com

Vonore, Tennessee. He stands before you, staring you down, daring you to move, and you just know he is completely, utterly hating his life. This was the way for the South Carolina troops, who were enlisted into building Ft. Loudoun in 1756-57. As seen in Ken Smith's newest painting depicting the history of the fort, you get a sense of the people who made this moment and you feel their pain, or at least their frustration. This latest work of art will be on permanent loan to the Fort Loudoun Association and will be exhibited in the Fort Loudoun State Historic Area Visitor Center, while a limited edition of 250 prints will be available for sale to the public.

As a build-up to this historic site's 250th anniversary, the Fort Loudoun Association, the park's friends' group, has commissioned Smith to create a painting for each year of the fort's existence, depicting key elements in the life of the fort and culminating with a depiction of the fort's demise in 2010. The first painting was released last year and was called Over the Hills: Sergeant Gibbs and the Advance Party. This painting represented the relationship between the Cherokee and Redcoats and their partnership in securing a location for the building of the fort.

The second painting, Mud and Blood: Carolina Builds a Fort, shows the actual agony of such a project. Slugging away at the building process was Postell's Company of South Carolinians, while the Independent Company of South Carolina, British regulars, drill as the Cherokee watch from the sidelines. No mud or blood for them, at least not yet, as the history of the site will eventually reveal. Next year's painting promises to show a bit more camaraderie between the fort residents and their Indian brothers, and the following year becomes a bleaker still with an image representing dissension between the British and the Cherokee. The series is dramatically concluded at Cane Creek where the Cherokee massacred many members of the British unit and enslaved most of the rest–purportedly in retaliation for a similar handling of Cherokee hostages at Fort Prince George.

"I would like to show a little bit of the frustration of what were essentially National Guard troops being assigned to carry out a disagreeable task in what to them was a foreign country," Smith says about Mud and Blood. He believes in showing the humanity of the unsung heroes and villains of history, everyday people living their lives.

Ken Smith is no stranger to British life at the fort during the French and Indian War era. He volunteers in the park's living history program, portraying a private in the Independent Company. Smith's models are park volunteers, staff or other acquaintances, often painting the people who portray the characters of Fort Loudoun in the park's living history program.

Smith is the Creative Director for Media South, a full-service communications company in Knoxville, Tennessee. He holds a BFA from the University of Tennessee, an MA from Syracuse University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Hartford. Smith also teaches figure painting for the continuing education program at University of Tennessee.

Mud & Blood will be unveiled Saturday, September 8, 2007, during Fort Loudoun's Annual Colonial Trade Faire. It can be viewed starting at 10am and will remain at the park's Visitor Center after the Trade Faire is concluded. Limited edition prints of Mud & Blood will also be available for purchase at this time, as well as prints from last year's painting, Over the Hills. Smith will be on hand to personally sign prints on both Saturday and Sunday of the Trade Fair.

For more information about the Fort Loudoun's Colonial Trade Fair or to purchase prints, call Ranger Shay Steele at Fort Loudoun State Historic Area (432-884-6217), or to see more of Smith's work, visit www.kensmithhistoricalart.com.

Annie Leibovitz, OMG!

2007-08-26T10:35:00.000-05:00

I had the great fortune to visit the Annie Leibovitz show at the High Museum in Atlanta last Friday. Just amazing! I've been a fan of hers since the Rolling Stone days, but I have to admit I haven't been keeping up these last fifteen years. Now, after seeing this latest exhibition (1990-2005), she is without a doubt simply the best.

Here are the exhibit details from the High web site:

The personal photographs in the exhibition document many events involving her family, including the birth of Leibovitz’ three daughters and the death of her father. Portraits of public figures include the pregnant Demi Moore; rock star Mick Jagger; actors Chris Rock, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino and Scarlett Johansson; George W. Bush with members of his Cabinet at the White House; William Burroughs in Kansas; and Agnes Martin in Taos. Assignment work includes searing reportage from the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s, and a series of landscapes taken in the American West and in the Jordanian desert.

The show is up though September 9; if you're in the Southeast and have a chance to go, by all means don't miss it.

And here's a link to the show

Over the Hills

2007-08-16T12:21:00.000-05:00

I'm currently in the process of doing a series of five paintings and prints depicting each of the five years in the life of Fort Loudoun, commemorating it's 250th anniversary (1756-1760). Each print will be debuted and released in September of its anniversary year, and each painting will show something pertinent to the events of the fort in that particular year. The painting for last year's premier of the series (which you can see above) was called, Over the Hills: Sergeant Gibbs and the Advance Party. This painting shows the British Sergeant Gibbs (on horseback) being guided through the Smoky Mountains by Little Carpenter (or Attakullakulla) the chief of the Overhill Cherokees (the redcoat standing to the left of the horse is yours truly).

The prints are available from me at www.kensmithhistoricalart.com or from the Fort Loudoun State Park: 250 print edition, $95 plus $18 shipping and handling.

Coming in September will be part two of the series, tentatively titled, Mud and Blood: Carolina builds a fort. This painting will show the South Carolina Provincial Company involved in digging the earthworks that would soon become Fort Loudoun. Look for it soon at a blog near you (or come by the Fort in September). For more information on the program at Fort Loudoun State Historic Area, click here.

The London Olympics

2007-08-09T16:13:00.001-05:00

This has been getting some press in the British news lately: the new London Olympics logo.

Neville Brody, the famous British graphic designer, is supposed to have said that it looked like "Lisa performing fellatio on Bart." And now that I've heard that description, that's all I can see.

The cost: $796,000

Oh, and the animated version apparently caused epileptic seizures. No, I'm not making this stuff up.

Just part of the wonderful world or graphic design.

The Savannah Nocturnes: Mercer House

2007-08-05T16:14:00.001-05:00

Now for something completely different. No history and no figures. This is the first in a series that I'm calling the Savannah Nocturnes. Night time paintings of the famous haunted houses of Savannah, Georgia. The old houses of Savannah look very stately and Ole South during the day, but at night you can begin to picture them in the lush tropical environment that feels like the real Savannah.

The Mercer House, of course, is the original home of Johnny Mercer, and the house that played a large part in the book and movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

The painting will be reproduced in a 250 print edition on paper, and a 25 print edition on canvas. Available for Christmas!

Murray Tinkelman

2007-07-28T11:17:00.000-05:00

Murray Tinkelman is the director of the MFA in Illustration program at the University of Hartford, and is one of the most amazing people I've ever met.

He's crusty and outspoken, compassionate and caring; he knows everything that ever happened in the history of illustration (and has an opinion about it); and as a teacher, has had an astounding influence on a generation of artists.

Recently Zina Saunders posted a very interesting and enlightening interview with Murray on her blog at: http://www.drawger.com/zinasaunders/

Read it and enjoy; I know I did.

(PS: in case it's scrolled away by the time you read this, the article is: Murray Tinkelman Profile, posted on July 25, 2007)

Finito

2007-07-08T19:16:00.001-05:00

Here they are, all the actresses finished, framed and hanging at the Silpe Gallery at the University of Hartford.

and here's a link to the story:

http://www.hartford.edu/daily/news.asp?id=3091

one small step.

The Fair of Rosalind

2007-07-04T00:15:00.000-05:00

From As You Like It by William Shakespeare
With Lily Langtry as Rosalind

Rosalind, the cross-dressing debutante, is one of the more visually picturesque figures in Shakespearean theater. On a quest to find her father, the banished Duke, Rosalind takes the name of Ganymede and travels with her friend through the forest of Arden, eventually coming upon her love interest, Orlando, whereupon Shakespearean hijinks ensue.

The painting shows Rosalind dressed in men’s clothes with her hair under her cap, reading the love letters that her beau-to-be has posted around the forest. The background replicates a section of a Victorian matte painting, while Langtry/Rosalind/Ganymede reclines on a stone while reading her lover’s missives. I could find no reference to the actual color of her clothing so red was chosen to provide a dramatic contrast to the primarily green forest background.

Lily Langtry, popularly known as Jersey Lily, was introduced to a modern audience by the Paul Newman movie, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, in which Langtry was depicted as Judge Bean’s lifelong obsession (though they had never met). Langtry was in fact a major actress and socialite of the late nineteenth century. She was mistress to the future King of England, Edward VII, and friends with the author Oscar Wilde and the painter James MacNeil Whistler.

Peter Pan, the Avenger!

2007-06-28T20:42:00.000-05:00

Maud Adams will always be associated with the role of Peter Pan though she was not the first actress to play the part (Nina Boucicault has that distinction from the original London production). Adams did, however, play the part 237 times on Broadway (and thereupon entered the Peter Pan collar into the fashion vernacular). The actress was also responsible for the camouflage-style costume and the headgear with the jaunty feather (the original Peter Pan in London was bareheaded).

I have shown Peter Pan during the attack on Captain Hook's pirate ship, the Jolly Roger. Dropping his cloak to the floor, he exclaims, “Peter Pan, the Avenger!”