Ken Jonas

KALISPELL, MT

Born in Seattle, WA in 1966, Ken Jonas spent his youth exploring the expansive mountains and waterways of the Pacific Northwest.  He developed avid interests in outdoor recreation and wilderness adventure, and a deep appreciation for wildlife and conservation. These lifelong interests influence his art.

Ken was fully immersed in a medical career before he discovered his affinity for stone carving.  He graduated from Stanford University in 1988 with a BA in Human Biology, and attended medical school at UAB in Birmingham, AL.  In 1993, he and his wife, Gwen, moved to Phoenix, AZ to complete their respective medical residencies. Ken subsequently served four years in the Air Force before accepting a faculty teaching position in Phoenix. Urban life, however, made him restless. With limited time in the backcountry, Ken developed a keen interest in wildlife art, particularly sculpted forms in bronze, wood and stone.  To help assuage his restless spirit, Gwen gifted him with a block of soapstone and some steel rasps, planting the seed from which his passion for stone carving grew.

In the summer of 2001, Ken and Gwen moved to Kalispell, MT in the shadow of Glacier National Park and The Bob Marshall Wilderness.  Ken continued his medical practice, and in his limited free time, continued carving. In July of 2010, he attended the MARBLE/marble Stone Carving Symposium in Marble, CO.  He made his first gallery sale that year.  Since then, his work has received favorable reviews in juried shows, has been sought and purchased by private collectors, and has generated an increase in commission requests.

Ken left Medicine in 2014 to commit to the full-time pursuit of sculpting. His work continues to be inspired by his love of nature, fly fishing and time spent in the mountains, as well as by a medical career which spanned over twenty years. He works predominantly in stone but occasionally employs other materials to achieve his vision.