Local artist Ken Smith creates works of art that capture moments in history.  He is working on a series of prints for Fort Loudoun, a reconstructed British fort in Vonore, which are a fund raiser for the fort.  Park Manager, Jeff Wells, says, “Proceeds are cycled right back into the reconstruction and living history programs at the fort.”

 One print is released each year and is about a different time in the fort’s history which only spanned the years from 1756 to 1760.  The first is coming to the fort, the second is building the fort, the third is living at the fort, the fourth is discord at the fort and the fifth is the massacre.  Two of the five prints have been released. 

 Artist Ken Smith wants every detail of his prints to be accurate.  The first print is about the construction of the fort.  Through historical records, he was able to learn the size of the group that constructed it, how many were soldiers and how many were civilians.  Even the horses of 250 years ago were different in colors and sizes than today so they had to be researched along with what the saddles and bridles looked like. 

 When it was time to choose a scene for the print, he thought about the group of people traveling from Clinton, South Carolina to East Tennessee to construct Fort Loudoun and decided that the group coming through the Smokies would be the right scene.  Cherokee Chief Attakullakulla was with the party so, in Smith’s quest for accuracy, he found an Indian Historian who had a complete, fully researched outfit.  He posed a man in the outfit and took a photograph.  In fact, every character in his prints is a real person who posed wearing the proper clothing.  Because it would be difficult to get everyone together, he takes photographs of each character and combines them on the computer into a mockup of his final image.  Smith says, “It’s a photographic sketch essentially.  Then I do a drawing from that.”  And from there he creates the original painting that becomes the print we see.

 For the second print, he wanted to focus on the building of the fort.  History tells us that when the project engineer walked off the job at the end of 1756, he left dissent and unrest.  Men who had signed on to complete the fort also wanted to leave.  There was nearly a mutiny.  It’s December and January so it’s muddy and cold and the workers don’t want to be where they are.  Smith says, “That’s the look on the guys’ faces that I tried to get across.  They’re there digging ditches because that’s what they have to do; because they signed up for it.”

 Smith is well qualified to create these prints.  He has a Bachelor’s degree in painting from UT, a Masters in illustration from Syracuse University and an M.F.A. in illustration from the University of Hartford.

 The third print will be revealed at the 18th Century Trade Faire on September 6 and 7 of 2008.  Smith says, “Next year will be about happy times at the fort.”  The first two prints are available at the Fort Loudoun Visitor’s Center in Vonore and through their website at www.fortloudoun.com.  For more information about Fort Loudoun phone 423-977-9755.  For more information on the artist, go to www.kensmithhistoricalart.com.