About the Artist
Artist statement
Wild Places / Inner Landscapes
Sarah Knox studied Fine Art and English Literature at Exeter University, followed by postgraduate studies at London University. Her career has included art teaching, arts broadcasting and gallery education at Tate Britain, City Art Centre, National Galleries of Scotland, and Fruitmarket Gallery. She is based at Patriothall Studios in Edinburgh. Her artwork focuses on wild places in Scotland and beyond. She sketches, films and photographs on location, and develops paintings and prints in her studio.
Working from the Landscape
Sarah paints en plein air, creating mixed media studies directly from life. These observations become the starting point for oil paintings developed in the studio. For Sarah, being outdoors reconnects her with the land. She works quickly capturing an emotional response to shifting light, rhythm and atmosphere.
Places of Return
Her subjects range from the marshlands of Norfolk to the coast at Tentsmuir, and from the Highlands to the Hebrides. Returning to the same locations over time allows familiarity, memory and intuition to shape the work.
Atmosphere and Intuition
Through this process, Sarah taps into the subconscious and paints intuitively. Her paintings suggest transcendence, inviting viewers to experience landscape as both physical place and emotional encounter.
Sarah Knox CV
Education and awards
2024-25 Visual Artist and Craft Makers Award (VACMA)
2023-24 Visual Artist and Craft Makers Award (VACMA)
1989 Scottish Arts Council Bursary for Arts Broadcasting
1983 PGCE University of London, Institute of Education: Art travel bursary USSR
1982 BA Hons Fine Art & English Literature, University of Exeter
1979 Foundation Course, Batley College of Art & Design, West Yorks
Solo exhibitions
2025 Light within, Dundas Street Gallery, Edinburgh
2022 There you feel free, Doubtfire Gallery, Edinburgh
2021 Lost Worlds, Dawyck Botanic Gardens
2017-23 Art Houses, Artwalk Porty
2018-25 Priory House, Pittenweem Arts Festival
2019 Lyrical Landscapes, Porto and Fi, Edinburgh
2019 Isle of Colonsay, Art Trail, Port Mhor
2018 Coves and Coasts, Humbie Hub
2015 Shorelines, Marchmont Gallery, Edinburgh
2014 Iona, paintings and prints, Porto and Fi, Edinburgh
2 person exhibitions
2024 On the Spring tide: Sarah Knox & Esther Donaldson, Doubtfire Gallery
2016 Light in the Garden, Sarah Knox & Sarah Robinson Dawyck Botanic Gardens
Group exhibitions
2026 Patriothall Gallery Fringe Festival exhibition, Edinburgh
2026 Paisley Art Institute 137th annual exhibition, Glasgow Art Club
2026 Visual Arts Scotland Future Folklore, Maclaurin Gallery, Art
2026 Graystone Gallery Spring exhibition, Edinburgh
2025 Graystone Gallery winter exhibition, Edinburgh
2025 Patriothall Gallery Fringe Festival exhibition, Edinburgh
2024-25 Visual Arts Scotland, Borders Art Fair
2024-25 Edinburgh Art Fair
2021-26 Selected artist representing Scotland, Fabriano in Acquarello, Bologna, Italy
2024 Now and Then, Dalkeith Palace, Visual Art Scotland Centenary exhibition
2017-26 Seasonal exhibitions, Velvet Easel Gallery, Portobello
2024 The Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour 143rd Annual exhibition
2023-24 Summer, Winter and Spring exhibition, Strathearn Gallery, Crieff
2023 The Wild Bunch, Doubtfire Gallery, Edinburgh
2020-25 St Columba’s Hospice annual autumn exhibition
2023 West, Visual Arts Scotland, The Briggait, Glasgow
2022-23 Imaginary Traditions, Winter exhibition, Doubtfire Gallery
2022 Fabriano in Acquarello Scottish artists exhibition, Union Gallery
2021 Presence exhibition, Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay, Fife
2015-22 Beaverhall Studios annual Open Studios, Edinburgh
2019 Winter exhibition, Found Gallery, Dunbar
2019 Exhibition for Maggie’s Centre, Dundee
2018 Art in Healthcare exhibition, Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden
2018 Salon, Edinburgh Printmakers’ exhibition
2018 Only Connect, Maltings, Wells-next-the-sea, Norfolk
2017 Contemporary Art Practice, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
2017-18 Art in Healthcare exhibition, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh
2017 Summer exhibition, Fidra Fine Art, North Berwick
2017 Edinburgh Printmakers Members’ exhibition
2016 Gallery Ten, Edinburgh
2016 Exhibition for Maggie’s Centre, Edinburgh
2015-26 Visual Arts Scotland Open Call Members exhibitions
2015-26 Society of Scottish Artists Open Call Members exhibitions
2016 Great Print Show, Rheged Centre, Cumbria
2016 Art in Healthcare, Gayfield Creative Spaces, Edinburgh
2015 Art in Healthcare Collection Exhibition, Out of the Blue, Edinburgh
2015-22 Marchmont Gallery solo exhibitions
2015-1 Iona Gallery, Isle of Iona
1980s-00s Mercury Gallery, Open Eye Gallery, Torrance Gallery, Flying Colours Gallery, Shore Gallery, Stenton Gallery, MacMillan Cancer Research and the Rock Trust.
Professional bodies:
Elected Professional Member Visual Arts Scotland 2025
Ordinary member Society of Scottish Artists 2010 -26
Art in Healthcare Friends Committee 2015 -2020
Scottish Representative: Executive Committee of the National Association for Gallery Education 92-97
Member of Edinburgh Printmakers 1986 - 2026
Collections:
Sarah Knox artworks are in many private and public collections both national and international, including Art in Healthcare, Exeter University, London University, Royal Botanic Gardens & St Columba’s Hospice
Studio: Patriothall WASPS, Stockbridge, Edinburgh