Born in 1985 and raised just outside of Columbus, Ohio, Jeffrey Knick grew up on a fully functional family farm along the Big Darby Creek. He is a graduate of Columbus College of Art & Design and obtained his Master of Education Degree at Xavier University.
Knick credits his many great art instructors for inspiring him to pursue giving back by being a public-school teacher for nearly a decade before recently becoming a full-time artist.
Primarily creating urban landscape paintings in acrylic, watercolor and cyanotypes, Knick decided to title his venture JKLA Paintings where his work is known for its architectural and perspective elements and the degree to which he works to obtain near-photo realism.
Knick’s work has won numerous awards and has appeared in multiple publications, including The Columbus Dispatch, and set to be published in Artists Magazine’s Splash 25: The Best of Watercolor in June of 2024 and their ArcrylicWorks 11: the Best of Acrylic publication in September of 2024 (as both a Finalist and Honorable Mention Award winner). Knick's work was selected as a Semi-Finalist for the Art Renewal Center's 16th International Salon and has been juried into many art exhibitions including: The Butler Institute of American Art's National Midyear Exhibition, multiple Ohio Art League Spring and Fall juried exhibitions, The Manifest Gallery's Tapped Exhibition, and has been featured the Ohio State Fair's Fine Arts Exhibition numerous times.
In a statement about his work, Knick talks about the mysterious qualities that a place can hold for us and how we see ourselves within spaces. He enjoys painting scenes that he captures in his stream of life that, upon reflection, appear monumental to him in some way. Placing the viewer in his footsteps allows them to have a unique exploration of detail through his personal lens.