Artist Captures Spirit of Smokies

Monday March 01, 2004

TOWNSEND, Tenn. -- A speed limit sign just off Wears Valley Road gives visitors an indication of what lies ahead. The small white sign is emblazoned with the word "Speed Limit" and under that is the picture of a snail. Visitors heed the directions and travel at nearly a snail's pace up the winding, gravel road. What awaits them at the end of the road is a wonderland of solitude. The 180-acre tract is artist Lee Roberson's Shangri-la. The land is home to Roberson's log home and his Art of the Smokies gallery, as well as a remote shack he uses as his getaway. Visitors and fans of Roberson's artwork roam the grounds along with chickens and Roberson's dogs. The Smoky Mountain native built his secluded gallery in the early 1960s. He had a career in graphic art and served as an illustrator and later art director for a Knoxville advertising agency. But his lifelong dream was a career in fine art. "That's what I always wanted to do for a living," he said. "Only a few years ago did limited edition prints become a marketable item. The market just developed." It was his background in graphic art that gave him the discipline he maintains today, he said. Today, Roberson's gallery attracts more than 100,000 visitors annually. The 1,000 copies of every Roberson Limited Edition print are sold out up to two years before their printing to members of the artist's Collectors Club. He paints about 12 pieces a year. "I look at that as the single most important thing I've accomplished," he said. "There is a two-year waiting list for the prints, but that wasn't always so. It's fulfilling to see it happen. When you sit down to do a new piece it's exciting to know the print is sold out before it is even painted." Before the first of his Native American print series was painted, collectors started signing up for the print. Roberson has been thinking for several years about such a series. "This has been in my mind for many years," Roberson said. "I'm part Cherokee myself and have always wanted to do something like this. I finally got my priorities in order and decided to do it. This is not my first painting of American Indians, but it is the first to be shared with the collectors as a print." Each print of the series comes with an artifact that can be incorporated into the framing or displayed separately. The remoteness of his home and gallery, and his art itself are signs that Roberson remains close to his roots. He remains as much a part of the mountains as the wildlife he paints. "I try to paint what I've grown up with, what I'm familiar with," he said. "The beginning artist is always concerned with establishing a style. In reality, if you paint what you perceive, then that is your style. I'm fortunate that it's been well-received. If it hadn't I would have been in trouble." Art of the Smokies is located at 758 Wears Valley Rd. Blount County, one of the oldest counties in Tennessee, was founded in 1795. It is home to six incorporated cities, Alcoa, Friendsville, Louisville, Maryville, Rockford and Townsend. Blount County has more than 94,000 citizens. For more information on Blount County contact the Smoky Mountain Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-525-6834 or the Blount County Chamber of Commerce at (865) 983-2241.

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