When art is a walk in the park

Being outdoors inspires lots of us to do lots of things: walk briskly so as to breathe in the air, walk slowly to enjoy a closer look at whatever intrigues us, run, nap, spread out a picnic blanket. The list is long and diverse, unlimited by individual imagination and each person’s unique reaction to “nature.”

When Zach Armistead, a 2006 graduate of Pellissippi State, heads outside, he’s usually inspired to pack some specific gear so he can capture his day’s interactions. The tools he uses consist of paper, pencil … perhaps a brush and some paints. Like countless artists, Armistead draws on his time in the natural world, away from other people, to create the images that he will eventually share in his drawings and paintings. Nothing so unique about that.

It’s the details that set Armistead apart from many other artists. He captures not only a grove of trees in an Appalachian forest but the tangled roots that interconnect them, partially visible on top of soil washed away by a nearby stream. His pencil shadings capture just a glint of sunlight in the water.

In another drawing, a lone tree stands testament to recent environmental ravages. What looks to be a hemlock sports needles only in its top branches; the lower limbs are scraggly, bare of vegetation. Any visitor to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has surely noticed the effects of the woolly adelgid insect on the hemlocks.

What is striking about the detail in Armistead’s drawing is just how very tall, and how sadly naked, the solitary tree appears.

The young art student, who graduates in May from East Tennessee State University, might not be trying to make a statement about environmental hazards and their impact on our natural resources. Even if he’s not, one can’t help but notice in his details the exposed roots and bare limbs. He’s merely capturing in fine strokes what we all see, but sometimes don’t quite take in. For Armistead, nature is a connection to the spiritual.

“I enjoy depicting the elements of nature,” Armistead said, “and I’m focusing this year on the local Appalachian landscape of the woods and forests. The feeling I have when I’m outside—my spirituality and faith feel most connected when I’m in nature. I hope people, in seeing my view, will pause to consider their relationship with the natural world.”

Though Armistead draws and paints, it is his drawings that offer the most detail. Ironic, then, that he almost didn’t focus on drawing. Home-schooled through the 12th grade, the young man entered Pellissippi State intending to concentrate on painting. Professor Anne Kinggard’s Intermediate Drawing class changed his mind.

“Before I went to Pellissippi State, I had done more painting. Ms. Kinggard inspired me to do more drawing. It was the Intermediate Drawing class with her that really challenged me; her assignments really pushed me. She was that next step to an even stronger work ethic to prepare me for higher workloads in the future.” 

Armistead is enjoying early recognition for his work. He has already exhibited in the Main Art Center Gallery in downtown Kingsport and had a show scheduled this month in the Slocumb Gallery on the ETSU campus. Upon graduation from ETSU, he’ll begin contacting local and regional art galleries in earnest, just as so many other artists do.

But with his gift for artfully capturing details, Armistead is poised to make a walk in the park a shared event for art and nature enthusiasts.