The Official PR Release for At First Light

It was a cold Sunday November morning in 1863 when the Gwinnett Artillery lead by Captain Tyler Peeples fired the first shot at Fort Sanders. Cannons sounded and the men from Georgia signaled the beginning of the disastrous attack on Union-held Fort Sanders. Now on that same spot, later called Morgan Hill, the University of Tennessee is busy building a new sorority complex. Much has changed since the bloody 1863 battle. Where there were just hills of mud, now interstate highways and modern structures sprout from the landscape. And yet, with the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, those first shots on Fort Sanders are remembered and are depicted in At First Light by historical artist Ken Smith.

“It’s still hard to picture the Battle of Knoxville taking place in that denuded 1863 landscape with all the hustle and bustle of modern Knoxville covering every salient feature of the original ground,” said the artist.

During the excavation of what is believed to be the only known archaeologically confirmed Confederate battle site in Knoxville, Smith was commissioned by the University of Tennessee’s McClung Museum to paint what transpired on Morgan Hill on that infamous morning. This particular event was part of the Siege of Knoxville and ended with over 800 casualties for the Confederate Army, leading to the Confederate retreat from East Tennessee. A reproduction of the painting is currently on display at the museum’s Civil War exhibit and plans also include using the image on a historical marker at the battle site, where 60 feet of the original trench will be preserved once the complex is completed.

Using research from UT’s archeological team, Smith began recreating the moment using period maps and contemporary descriptions to recreate the landscape and conditions that Tyler Peeples and the Gwinnett Artillery faced on that morning in 1863. The artist traveled to Petersburg National Battlefield (Petersburg, VA) to view and photograph one of only two functional Napoleon cannons in the Eastern US. And he recruited accurately garbed reenactors to pose as the Georgia artillerymen.

Smith currently resides in Pulaski, Virginia and is an assistant professor of graphic design at Radford University. Before this, he lived in the Knoxville area for over thirty years and is an alumni of the University of Tennessee. He also holds a MA from Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York), and an MFA from the University of Hartford (Hartford, Connecticut).

At First Light can be seen at the McClung Museum (Knoxville, Tennessee) or on the artist’s website at www.kensmithhistoricalart.com. Limited edition prints are available for purchase. For more information, please contact Ken Smith at ksmith@kensmithhistoricalart.com.

Ken Smith HIstorical Art Becomes Social

The Cyberworld – like dabs of paint upon an unfinished canvas – slightly abstract at first and then blending together to create a recognizable image – Ken Smith’s business as an historical artist makes for the beginning marks of a social media project. Rather than a creation made from the physical reality of brushes, the tools of this endeavor are a combination of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Linked-In, a blog and website. Though the artist has been involved in several of these social media venues in the past, this is Ken Smith Historical Art’s first coordinated effort to actively engage in ongoing online content. With this, our goal is to keep those who are interested in Ken’s paintings up-to-date with his current and new projects and also to introduce new viewers to his efforts.

Due to Ken’s southern heritage, we have chosen to launch our social media ventures around his first Civil War painting effort. We are hosting a social media scavenger hunt to acquaint you with our new sites and also to unveil one of Ken’s latest painting (and limited edition prints) called “At First Light.” Originally commissioned by the McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), this image depicts the opening cannon fire during the Battle of Fort Sanders on November 28, 1863 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Though the scavenger hunt will provide you with a special prize themed around this painting, for those who prefer to see the painting now, please visit www.kensmithhistoricalart.com/civilwar/at_first_light.htm.

Wondering about the nature of the prize? Here’s a clue – wallpaper. To begin the hunt, please visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kensmithhistoricalart for the first clue. Other clues maybe found on the following sites:

• Twitter – http://twitter.com/kshistoricalart
• Tumbr – http://kensmithhistoricalart.tumblr.com
• Linked-In – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ken-smith/5/428/389)

For more information or questions, please contact ksmith@kensmithhistorical.com or leave a comment on the blog.

Completing the At First Light Social Media Scavenger Hunt

If you have visited our four social media sites (http://facebook.com/kensmithhistoricalart, http://twitter.com/kshistoricalart, http://kensmithhistoricalart.tumblr.com, and http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ken-smith/5/428/389), you have found a series of clues that will provide you with the password needed to reveal your reward for indulging our fun and games.

For each clue, you should have a one word answer. Put those words together in order (no spaces, all lowercase) and you have the password. If this is problematic or you are stumped, leave us a message or comment on any of these sites and we’ll help you out.

Click here to enter your clue answers and reveal your prize!

The Face of World War II at The Art Gallery at Mish Mish

For those of you who happen to be near Blacksburg, Virginia, I'll be having an exhibit of my World War 2 artwork at The Art Gallery at Mish Mish starting this Friday, Nov. 5. The opening reception is from 5-7 PM.

The show runs from Nov. 5 through Dec. 1.

Mish Mish is located at 125 North Main St., Blacksburg, VA.

Phone: 540-552-1020.

Hope to see you there.

Podcast Interview with Ken Smith

A couple of weeks ago I did a fairly lengthy interview with the "Two Half Squads," a podcast about the game, Advanced Squad Leader (ASL). All of my World War 2 paintings, so far, have been covers on the magazine, ASL Journal, so the folks at Two Half Squads were interested in hearing about how these paintings came to be. If you too are interested, you can hear the podcast at:

http://www.the2halfsquads.com/2010/09/episode-41-art-of-war.html

Note that my part of the show starts at the 41-minute mark (if for some reason you don't want to listen to the whole thing), and you might also like to know that the interview is about an hour long.

And here's a link directly to the mp3:

here

Cherokee Vengeance – the Fall of Ft. Loudoun

Cherokee Vengeance: Victory at Cane Creek, The last painting in a five-part series depicting the life and times of Ft. Loudoun

The Cherokee warrior lunges confidently forward, war club poised above his head, poised to strike down the Redcoat, as he frantically draws his sword..Another surprised soldier loads his flintlock, while a laundress lifts a musket from an unconscious Redcoat,trying to protect herself from the Cherokee onslaught. Chaos. The startled members of the King’s army scramble to defend themselves against the sudden assault.

This is the latest subject in historical artist Ken Smith’s series on the history of Fort Loudoun, which is on permanent loan to the Fort Loudoun Association, and is on display in the Fort Loudoun State Historic Area’s Museum and Visitor Center. A limited edition of 250 prints are available for sale to the public. Cherokee Vengeance completes the series of five paintings based on the life of Fort Loudoun.

As a part of this historic site’s 250th anniversary celebration, the Fort Loudoun Association, the park’s friends group, commissioned Smith to depict key elements of each year of the fort’s existence. Cherokee Vengeance is the last in the series and represents the final moments of the relationship between the Cherokee and the garrison of Fort Loudoun after Captain Demere, of the Independent Company of South Carolina, surrendered the fort to the natives on August 8, 1760. The morning after leaving the fort, while preparing to depart their camp at Cane Creek (near present day Belltown, Tennessee), the people of Fort Loudoun were overwhelmed in a surprise attack by the Cherokee in retaliation for other injustices previously perpetrated by the British.

“It was interesting to try to depict the mood of the Fort each year for the five years of its life, especially knowing in advance how the story was going to turn out,” Smith says about Cherokee Vengeance.

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

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

For The Second Year In A Row, Ken Smith Wins Coast Guard Art Program Award

A Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) is ready for a confrontation, and the viewer of this new painting by Ken Smith is happy to witness this action from in front of the canvas, and not from the business end of the M-4 carbine rifle.

This MSST team from St. Marys, Georgia is shown securing an area of the port as an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter prepares to drop crew members onto a tanker to determine whether the vessel is engaged in illegal activity or otherwise poses a threat.

MSST: Sighting Down Threats recently received the Coast Guard Art Program’s (COGAP) coveted George Gray Award for Artistic Excellence during a special reception at the Salmagundi Club in New York City.

Smith was one of 28 COGAP artists whose works were juried into the U.S. Coast Guard’s permanent collection in 2010. This year, 41 paintings were admitted into the collection, with one painting receiving the George Gray award. Smith’s painting, Air Station Savannah, received the award in 2009.

“My paintings generally tend toward military subject matter, so I was naturally attracted to the MSSTs and their anti-terrorism mission,” said Smith. “In discussing their work, the team’s no-nonsense attitude really appealed to my sense of drama and of course to the Coast Guard’s motto, Semper Paratus.”

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.

MSST: Sighting Down Threats will be displayed through August 12 at the Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City as part of the Coast Guard Art Program exhibit, titled “Underway with the Coast Guard: Observations in Art.” The memorial is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The memorial is closed on weekends.

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