Ken Knight
1956, born in Sydney
Studies: Bachelor of Arts, Diploma of Education, Sydney University 1975-78. Extensive study tours of the UK, USA,France, Italy, Iran, India, Turkey,Croatia
Ken is a plein-air artist, traveling extensively in search of new landscapes. He is currently preparing a painting trip to Antarctica. He has been a full time artist for thirty five years. His paintings evoke the very essence of the scene he is portraying – you feel the salt air in his seascapes or the dry blistering heat in the landscapes. He applies his paint with confidence transferring what he sees and feels onto the canvas in broad swathes of colour with the occasional fine line or feathered brush. Up close his paintings are a mass of coloured daubes, but stand back and revelation, a painting with minute details appear. A truly gifted talent.
Wherever he exhibits, his paintings are received with tremendous enthusiasm and acclaim. Ken Knight has earned the title of being one of Australia’s most important landscape artists.
About 60 solo exhibitions from 1979-20017 and 40 invitation group exhibitions in major galleries in Australia and overseas:
Christopher Day Gallery, Wentworth Galleries, Sydney
Eastgate Gallery, Melbourne
Bungendore Woodworks Gallery, Bungendore
Linton and Kay, Perth
Exhibitions overseas in Jonathon Grant Galleries, Auckland, Tryon Galleries, London and Gallery 71, New York
49 Awards including:
AME Bale Grand Winner, Best Oil Painting Award, Melbourne
Camberwell Rotary/Herald Sun, Gold Medal $20000 Award, Melbourne
Sydney University and Schools Club Art Show Members Choice Award
The Crows Nest Club Ltd, North Shore Times Art Exhibition
Tattersall’s Club Brisbane, Members Choice Award
Included in collections in:
Tasmanian Art Gallery Museum
Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum
The Union Club, Sydney
Westpac Bank Collection
Commonwealth Bank
Bundanon Trust
Canberra Gallery and Museum
Represented in private and corporate collections in Australia and Internationally.
Louise Knight B.A.Dip. Ed (Sydney University)
My 20 years of teaching art in secondary schools has been an extremely satisfying experience. In that time, it was always ceramics that was my first love and greatest passion.
Pottery is a complicated mix of creativity and science. It involves very basic materials; clay and water. The art of glazing is extremely technical, combining materials such as silica, dolomite, feldspar, whiting, rutile and oxides which are mixed with water and fired under extreme temperatures.
The pieces are made on the wheel, let dry to the point where I can turn them to create fine bases. Then when dry, they are fired in an electric kiln to 800 degrees Celsius. After the bisque firing they are glazed and fired in a gas kiln for 12 hours reaching 1300 degrees Celsius.
The greatest elation or disappointment comes when the kiln is opened...three days after the gas burners are turned off! It takes this length of time for the interior of the kiln and the contents to cool sufficiently to prevent crazing the glaze and risk personal injury.
Chemical changes between the clay body and the glaze under reducing conditions in the gas kiln produce an array of colours. Many of these colours can be created by careful application, however, much of the final result is due to the serendipity of factors that are often challenging to manipulate and control in my 60 year old gas kiln.
High fired stoneware pottery is non porous, has great strength, is ovenproof, dishwasher proof, microwave proof and is resistant to chipping.
My aim is to produce functional ware that is beautiful, light and a pleasure to use.