Adkins Rollman Gallery Artists John Adkins and Charlotte Rollman were featured in the 2025 Fall Edition of Smokies Life Journal. Their feature article is titled "Eye of the Beholder - Duo offers unique interpretations of Smokies scenes", written by Smokies Life Journal writer Holly Kays.
Holly's article was both informative and fun, sharing John and Charlotte's creative endeavors together in their membership to the plein air painting group "Tuesday Painters" and their amazing Gallery partnership at Adkins Rollman Gallery, on the Gatlinburg Arts and Crafts Loop.
"John Adkins and Charlotte Rollman have differing perspectives on both life and art, and that's what makes them such good business partners. Plein air painters, Adkins and Rollman often set up their easels side by side to render the scene before them, Adkins in oils and Rollman in acrylics. In November 2022, they opened the Adkins-Rollman Gallery on Glades Road in Gatlinburg, infusing their artistic careers with new life as they share their paintings and the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains."
Holly shared in her article that "Rollman discovered plein air painting during her years at NIU - and so did her students, who she "made go out and paint with me." But the bitterly cold in Illinois winters curtailed the season for outdoor painting; in retirement, she decided, she needed to live somewhere where she could paint year-round. After finding "heaven on earth" in the Smokies, she moved to Wears Valley in 2016.
Meanwhile, Adkins was developing a plein air passion of his own, stemming from a 1992 workshop he attended at the Nicolai Fechin Institute in Taos, New Mexico. The experiences inspired him to help found Plein Air Artists of Alabama in 1998, and he served as the organization's president for ten years."
The article points out the importance of the Smoky Mountains in both artists lives. The landscapes and wildlife have inspired both artists, who enjoy painting in every season of the year.
"I love the streams and the rocks, and I love the mountains and the open fields," Adkins said in the article.
In the article, Holly also spoke of how Rollman "feels not just the beauty of the landscape but also the footprints of those who walked before her." She noted that "Both artists say there's a transcendence that occurs when they sit outdoors, rendering what they see in oil or acrylic."
I hope that you have a chance to read the article in Smokies Life Journal, which is published in spring and fall every year highlighting life and history in the Smokies, stewardship efforts in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, flora and fauna great and small, and other incredible stories from this diverse landscape.