GREENEVILLE – Two original oil paintings of the Tennessee Pioneer and Tennessee Buccaneer, which are the subject of new book, and student-created art of German buildings and landscapes will be shown at a special event Thursday, April 11, at Tusculum University.
The free event will be held from 5-7 p.m. in the Shulman Center’s Clem Allison Gallery.
Tusculum University students perform artwork in front of the Magdeburg Cathedral.
Bill Bledsoe, an assistant professor in Tusculum’s art program, said he and five students traveled to Magdeburg, Dresden and Berlin in Germany during spring break in March to complete outdoor paintings, known in professional circles as en plein air. Bledsoe took them to various locations in these cities without disclosing them in advance, and they set up outside the building or in some landscape setting.
First, the students would complete a quick drawing to ensure accuracy of the subject and then draw it again on a canvas before starting the painting process. The group also photographed and filmed the locations to document them.
“Everything had to be initiated at the site,” Bledsoe said. “We didn’t have time to finish the paintings there, but they had an hour to 1 ½ hours to work on them at that site. We were training them to get enough information on the canvas so that when they went back to work on it, they knew where to pick up.”
Among the places the students visited were the Brandenburg Gate, Magdeburg Cathedral, and a bridge in Berlin. Bledsoe said one of the students, Laurel Adkins, had an uncle who was the American prisoner exchanged for a Soviet spy on that bridge in the early 1960s. That historic event was the inspiration for the movie “Bridge of Spies.” During the students’ visit, Adkins read a poem for her uncle as a way to commemorate that event and his service to the United States.
Between the different locations, Bledsoe and the students visited museums to view German artwork and learn about German expressionism that were visually similar to the style of painting they were conducting.
When visitors come to the gallery, they will see works in progress, Bledsoe said. He said it is important for them to understand the process associated with the paintings. Once the paintings are completed in the fall, Bledsoe and the students will return to Magdeburg for a reception. After that trip, the paintings will be displayed in the Clem Allison Gallery.
The unveiling of the paintings will be part of an exhibit called Mascot: Legend of an Icon, which is about a book written by Bledsoe for which his students created illustrations and photographed items as part of the publishing process. The book, “Liam McNaughton: Legend of the Tennessee Buccaneer” features a fictional character on his journey from Scotland to America as he faces real-life events in world history.
The book focuses on the meaning of a pioneer and a buccaneer, the respective nicknames of Tusculum and East Tennessee State University. It explains why a buccaneer would be relevant to this region’s history. Bledsoe said it is more obvious why the nickname pioneer is relevant to this area.
“It all parallels history,” Bledsoe said. “The character in the book is fictional, but every last bit of the rest of it is chronologically correct from 1746 at the Battle at Culloden in Scotland all the way up to the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. That’s the time frame I have the buccaneer live in. In fact, his name is the namesake of four men who came from Scotland at the same time who fought at Kings Mountain.”
He said the book incorporates Samuel Doak, who co-founded Tusculum Academy, a predecessor of Tusculum University, and a well-regarded speech he gave to members of the Continental Army as motivation for victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
As part of the event, Bledsoe will unveil two paintings – one of a pioneer and another of a buccaneer. They will be side-by-side as twin portraits. The book, which will be published soon, will be on display at the event. The painting of the buccaneer is on the cover, and the one of the pioneer is inside.
“We did several prototypes and then got the first-edition book,” Bledsoe said. “What I will show at the event will be the first opportunity to see how the book looks.”
For further information, please call Bledsoe at 423-636-7300, ext. 5142. More detail about the Tusculum art program is available at www.tusculum.edu.