KEN WATSON

BIOGRAPHY

Kenneth Watson’s career in art spans more than 45 years

Born in Toronto, Ontario, he graduated from the four-year art program at Danforth Technical School in that city.  Weekends and holidays were usually spent
with artist Friends who shared the same interests.  Together they would seek out locations to paint and sketch within the city or travel north to
locations in Muskoka, Halliburton and Algonquin Park.

In 1959, Kenneth spent four months in Taxco, Mexico painting and studying etching with Carl Pappe.  Shortly after his return, from
Mexico in 1960, he moved to Banff, Alberta and studied at the Banff School Of Fine Arts.  His instructors included H.G. Glyde and George Pepper.

He moved back to Toronto in 1963 to work as an editorial artist at the Toronto Telegram newspaper.

On a freelance basis, for the paper, he produced on-site, pen-and-ink renderings for two features:
“Watson’s Sketchbook of Churches” and “Ontario’s Historic Sights”.

His first art show was shared with Newfoundland artist Gerald Squires at a gallery in Toronto’s Yorkville district in 1964.

In 1969 Kenneth, his wife and two small daughters moved to Calgary, Alberta after accepting employment as a graphic artist
and designer at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.  In 1996, retirement from SAIT provided him the freedom to paint full time.

September 2007, Kenneth and his wife returned to Ontario, settling in the Quinte West area, just north of Trenton.

Kenneth’s work has been exhibited through juried shows at many major public galleries.
These include:
The Toronto Art Gallery (Now Art Gallery of Ontario), Ontario Society of Artists. Hamilton Art Gallery, Women’s Committee.  The London Ontario Art Gallery.

The Allied Art Centre, Calgary, AB.  The Whyte Museum, Banff, AB.        

Private Galleries in which he has exhibited include: