“Untitled”, Bison series, pastel

Joseph Knowles

Joseph Knowles was born in Santa Barbara, the son of two artists. He attended local schools and received BA and B Architecture degrees from Stanford University, with minors in art and engineering. After college, he pursued a career in architecture, working for many years with the well-known Santa Barbara architect, Lutah Maria Riggs, F.A.I.A. In the late 1960s, he entered the US Army and served in Vietnam.

In the 1980s, Mr. Knowles left architecture to concentrate on art and graphic design, and also worked in a number of different areas from construction to sales. In the late 1980s and 1990s he lived in the Eastern US, returning to California in 2002. His art has been represented in one-person and group shows in Santa Barbara as well as in New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

The major part of Mr. Knowles work has been on paper, in pastel, oil, watercolor, and ink. His subject matter varies from the highly abstract to the extremely representational, although even in the latter his artistic objectives are usually more aesthetic than narrative. As an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, he has focused in recent years on work which also relates to his Indian heritage.

Mr. Knowles lives on a small horse ranch and vineyard in Santa Ynez with his wife, Penny Knowles, who is the Executive Director of the Wildling Art Museum in Los Olivos.