Trout inspired by nature to paint
Farragut Arts Council presents watercolor artist Joe Trout as its featured artist for May and June.
The exhibit at Farragut Town Hall at 11408 Municipal Center Drive, highlights Trout's watercolor paintings of nature and wildlife.
“It’s a big honor to be picked for this [exhibit],” the artist said.
The May and June exhibit is the second time Trout has been selected to be part of Farragut Arts Council’s featured artists.
“I was chosen several years ago,” he said. “I got a lot of comments from people at church when they saw my work.”
Trout, a Lenoir City resident, has been painting for more than 50 years and said he was first inspired when he was a boy.
“I was always the kid in class who got to help teachers with the posters and was always drawing instead of studying,” he said.
Trout’s favorite medium is watercolors, but he also works in acrylics, oils and pencil.
His work depicts the beauty of the area's landscapes, specifically Great Smoky Mountains Na-tional Park, including its wildflowers, greenery, streams and waterfalls.
“I do a little bit of everything — whatever I see that moves me,” Trout said. “I do a lot of landscapes, mountains, waterfalls and birds.”
Scenees of beaches, South Carolina Low Country and North Carolina's Outer Banks also inspired many of his watercolors, and he has done portraits as commissioned works.
Trout has participated in numerous one-man art shows, and his work is housed in collectors' homes in several states and countries.
Each month, the Town features works of an artist or a group of ar-tists in specially designed cases on the second floor of Farragut Town Hall.
To access a Featured Artist application, contact Lauren Cox at lcox@townoffarragut.org, call 865-966-7057 or visit townoffarragut.org/artsandculture. The Town Hall is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
