Soul of the South Award Winner Profile: Jared Knox

Nominated by The Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts, Jared Knox was honored at our 2024 Soul of the South Awards as our Artists & Makers category winner.

Biography

Jared Knox is an Atlanta-based artist with a passion for the outdoors. His goal in creating is to celebrate the magnificence of nature, and more importantly, the One who created nature itself. “God the Creator is the ultimate artist, and we can only hope to glorify Him by making reflections of what He has already created.” His work, most often depicting wildlife, is both powerful and peaceful.

Since Jared was a child he had a paintbrush in hand, quickly finding an interest in pop art and paperweights. He made drawings of everything he saw, and when he was not drawing, he was outside hunting or fishing. As time passed, art became second to studying and sports; however, his junior year at Auburn University, he felt a need to find a job that would allow him to travel for the sake of taking his faith overseas as a missionary. After praying and searching, Jared realized that his passion for artwork was not without reason.

Upon graduating in May of 2021, he began working with several galleries across the southeast. He has done artwork for businesses across the country, created countless commissions, and partnered with men’s clothing store Onward Reserve. He created the painting for the GA Fishing License and partnered with the GA Department of Natural Resources for several other projects. As Jared Knox advances in his career, he continues to leverage his life for the sake of sharing the gospel both overseas and at home in Atlanta.

Soul of the South Q&A

1) What was your “aha” moment or when did you decide that this was the industry for you?

I painted on the side throughout college as I studied mechanical engineering at Auburn, never thinking about becoming a full time artist until I got a call from an Atlanta gallery. They let me know that they believed I could have success as an artist and that it could be a great full-time option after I graduated. Until that moment, I had never seriously considered painting as a legitimate career, but I felt the Lord stirring me in that direction and have not looked back.

2) How did your upbringing or time spent in Alabama shape your career?

I spent all my time as a kid playing outside fishing and hunting or inside painting. Upon becoming a student at Auburn, I began to orient my free time around hunting the local area for turkey, deer, and wood ducks. So my adoration for wildlife grew as my connections in the area did as well. I made artwork for galleries and local events, traded my art to friends in town, and painted a few installs for my local church, Auburn Community Church.

3) What keeps you moving forward in the industry, and do you have a quote or motto that resonates with you?

I am consistently motivated by the God-given desire to create, and am rooted by the belief that even my best work could never fully reflect the artistry of the Creator. I hope to bring glory to Him by highlighting his majesty shown through creation. Romans 1:20 is a verse that I consistently come back to in my creative process. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

4) How has your nominator made a positive impact on your idea of and/or relationship to your industry?

Jennifer Eifert really helped solidify my presence as a wildlife artist by inviting me into the “WEWA” festival. Many valuable connections were made through the event, and winning the “Best in Show” award there last year was a massive blessing. Jennifer is a great gallerist and pushes the art scene forward in Wetumpka to make it now a national stage for artists and makers like me. There are so many great people who enjoy celebrating the culture we are immersed in and Jennifer has made a great opportunity for us to come together each year.

5) What would you consider your greatest professional accomplishment?

Putting my artwork on the GA fishing license was a big step for me, but I would say the greatest accomplishment so far was winning the “Best in Show” award at the Alabama Wildlife Art competition last year. That show included several artists that I have looked up to for years, so to be in the show and even win it was surreal to me.

6) What would you like to see more of in Alabama as it pertains to your industry?

We have begun a great movement of celebrating our wildlife artists through different festivals. I look forward to watching our artists continue to thrive under the growing support of wildlife art in the state until our stage is a national one.

This story originally appeared on Soulgrown.