Cynthia Knott facts for kids

Cynthia Knott is an American painter born on March 20, 1952, in Newark, New Jersey. She is famous for her beautiful seascape paintings, which often show the horizon where the sky meets the ocean. Her art reminds some people of the famous painters Mark Rothko and J. M. W. Turner.

About Cynthia Knott

Cynthia Knott studied art at several schools, including the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the School of Visual Arts in New York, and New York University.

Before she became an artist, Cynthia was interested in studying Marine Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. However, she soon realized her true passion was drawing and decided to focus on art instead.

Her love for the ocean and her art is also connected to her family history. Cynthia's great-grandfather was an Irish sea captain. Her painting series called "Migration" tells the story of her family's journey by boat from Ireland across the Atlantic Ocean.

Her Artistic Style

Cynthia Knott started her art career as a "color field" painter. This style focuses on large areas of flat color, inspired by artists like Mark Rothko.

Later, she became very interested in painting landscapes after visiting upstate New York. She also looked at the work of famous landscape painters like J. M. W. Turner, John Constable, and James McNeill Whistler. Like Rothko's paintings, Cynthia's art often uses horizontal bands of single colors to create a sense of calm and space.

Other artists who have influenced Cynthia's work include Dan Flavin, Barnett Newman, Helen Frankenthaler, and Jane Wilson. She also finds inspiration in famous artworks like Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa and the ocean scenes by Winslow Homer. The glowing light in her seascapes is often compared to a 19th-century American art style called Luminism, which focused on how light creates a peaceful feeling.

Cynthia Knott's friend, the poet Billy Collins, calls her a "horizonologist." This is because much of her art explores the line where the sky meets the sea. She shows how the horizon looks different at various times of day, in different light, and in different weather. Cynthia once explained that she saw a temporary horizon line appear and disappear at Cartwright Shoal, which inspired her to use gold in her horizon lines.

How She Creates Her Art

Cynthia has a special way of creating her paintings. First, she prepares her canvas with a layer of "sizing," which is like a special glue. This makes the surface tight and adds texture, helping the light play across her finished paintings.

Next, she adds a layer of white "gesso," which prepares the canvas for color. Before she starts the main painting, she adds an "underpainting" using copper and gold paint.

Cynthia often paints and repaints her work many times. Sometimes, at the end of a day, she might even scrape off what she's painted with a palette knife. This leaves a faint mark of the day's work, which she calls a "process of memory." She uses a thick mix called "encaustic," made from beeswax, linseed oil, and varnish, along with metallic colors and oil paint. This helps her create a glowing effect in her art.

Cynthia often paints her seascapes en plein air, which means "outdoors." She believes that "The only way you can really understand light is to look at it." Many of her paintings show coastal views near her home in Springs, NY, like Gardiner's Bay. For night scenes, she paints a local salt marsh that has a special glow.

Her Love for Poetry

Cynthia Knott is also inspired by poetry, especially poems about nature and landscapes. She enjoys the works of poets like Wordsworth, W. B. Yeats, and Emily Dickinson.

Cynthia Knott and Billy Collins

Cynthia is good friends with the famous poet Billy Collins. He has even joined her while she paints outdoors and offered her advice. For example, he once told her to use shorter, more powerful titles for her paintings, which she now does.

In return, some of Billy Collins' poems are inspired by Cynthia's paintings. Billy Collins, who was once the United States Poet Laureate, wrote a poem called "Paintings of the Sea (For Cynthia Knott)" after seeing her seascapes. This poem was shared during one of Cynthia's art shows. Another poem, "Horizon," published in his 2005 book The Art of Drowning, was also inspired by her work.