Artists: Ken Maddex

Profile:

        Ken had Art instruction from Art teacher, Ron Wood, at High School in England and he learned plein aire painting in gouache.

        After Matriculating from London University at age 15, he took a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Physics at Nottingham University in 1955.  He served two years in the Royal Corp of Signals as a Radio Mechanic and then joined a British Electrical company initially as a Chemist and then as a Power Semiconductor Design and Development Engineer.  At this time he was went to evening classes with Artist F. S. Baldwin at Rugby City College who taught him Drawing (pencil and Conte crayon), gouache on sugar paper and  then oil on canvas in three concurrent classes - Still-life, Portraits and Life classes for three years (1959-62).   Ken sold his first painting at this time and received a Best Picture award in an open exhibition in Rugby. 

        He moved to California in 1970 but his career in Semiconductors meant not a lot of time for painting, although he did have two exhibitions at Agilent  in Milpitas and  in San Jose.  He was a member of the Golden Bay Art Club and exhibited and sold paintings in the 2001 Milpitas Street Fair.  He was a docent in the San Jose Art Museum program “Lets Look at Art” which demonstrated large prints of well known paintings in schools in San Jose and Milpitas.

        Now that Ken has retired (1999), he has produced many oil paintings. He has had instruction from Tina Grant and Victoria Brooks.  He has had one-man exhibitions an Loomis and Rocklin Libraries and showed fourteen paintings in the Citrus Heights City program.  He is a founding member of the Rocklin Fine Art club, and a member of Springfield Fine Art Club and the Roseville Arts! Club and exhibits regularly with all of them.  He has received  four awards at the Snowflake exhibition in Rocklin.

        Ken has an analytical approach to painting - no doubt a result of his engineering career.