Knight Clay Works: Biography

Artist's Biography

I was born and raised in Iowa. In 1962, as a thirteen-year-old student at Scattergood Friends School, I touched clay for the first time and was enthralled immediately.

There I gained some initial experience with making clay, wheelthrowing, and building and firing kilns. I have been fashioning clay objects, dragging fire bricks to kiln sites, and building big fires ever since.

I went on to study at the University of Iowa (1966-68) and the University of Kentucky (1973-74).

I’ve had the privilege of working with and learning from fine clay artists like Dan Edler, Carl Judson, Warren McKenzie, Rob Barnard, Wayne Ferguson, Paulus Berensohn, and Mike lines.

In the years since I have worked in self-designed studios in Iowa and Kentucky, always homesteading and living on the land. I have shown my wares at galleries and art fairs and honed my techniques while moving more fully into wood firing. From 1972-1974 I was a guest artist at the Octagon Art Center in Ames, Iowa.

At various times I have served as a guest artist, an artist-in-residence, and as an arts council board member.

I have taught classes and led workshops on the full range of clay skills and techniques, from throwing and handbuilding to kiln building and firing.

Now I live in North Carolina, where I have built a studio and homestead near Asheville. I have built my second anagama, a 200-cubic-foot kiln that takes at least four cords of wood and five days of fire to develop the natural ash glaze I desire.