On Exhibit

Blue as can be

On exhibit at Central Branch Library, June 2017.

Artist Statement:

Blue speaks to me in a way no other color does. It’s a primary color-an entity in and of itself. There are more shades of blue straight from the tube than any other color. When I don’t have to think about mixing colors, I can focus on knife work, on creating textures worthy of focus themselves, regardless of the color choice.

Laura Herring is selling the small works for $60, medium works for $80 and the large works for $100.

Want to buy something you see on our walls? Artists contribute 20% of sales made during their exhibit to the Friends of the Arlington County Public Library, to help support Library programming.

“Paintings in my head”

On exhibit at Central Branch Library, June 2017.

Artist Statement:

I. do. a. lot. of. my paintings in my head at the Italian store. where. I work. at the slicer. I like. jasper. johns and van Gogh and Jackson Pollock. I like al held too. I’ve been doing mixed media using wood and wire and newspaper. I like lively paintings. I did a lot of paintings of the poor. I’m on the board of a church homeless program in DC and work with some charities. Prices are. negotiable

Want to buy something you see on our walls? Artists contribute 20% of sales made during their exhibit to the Friends of the Arlington County Public Library, to help support Library programming.

PECULI-ART

On exhibit at Central Branch Library, June 2017.

Artist Statement:

Though a resident of the Arlington area, I grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia.

That was long ago when:  The circus elephants would walk down our street on the way to the fairgrounds; the ‘Dogwood Festival Parades’ would begin in the neighborhood (but were required to stop before entering the University of Virginia); radio and televisions weren’t common; phones were on party lines, we spent much of our time catching lightning bugs; played games like ‘Red Light – Green Light’, ‘Tag’, and ‘Swamp Fox’; people heated with coal; had no air conditioning; cars were $500 to $1000 dollars; and many people took the bus or walked.

I suspect my mother, a country school teacher, was my inspiration.  She was the first to notice my interest in art (it certainly wasn’t my father – a taxicab driver).  She also painted a dead tree in her yard.  One summer she gave me some index cards and encouraged me to doodle.  I became enthralled with the beauty of the sunrise and would get up everyday just to ‘paint’ the morning sky on index cards – with colored pencils.

Much later in life, I worked for a Government agency and started a recycling program in our building.  I came home one night and thought ‘what can I do better  – to recycle at home’?  I was intrigued by how much waste we create; and noticed that ‘junk mail’, in particular, was the glut of our ‘throw away material’.  So, about 25 years ago, I started playing around and made paper mache out of the junk mail that I received.  That became my art; and I ‘embellish’ it with other ‘used or throw-away items’.
My friend came home one evening and saw my first creation – the response was not overwhelming:

“I think you’ve been alone too long….”

The comment was funny; and hopefully…keeps me ‘grounded’.   I suppose that is one reason my artwork navigates between the sacred and the profane.  Though some pieces have a more serious meaning, most are capricious – or simply something that struck me as being beautiful, funny, or ‘peculiar’.  So…does that make me an artist – or simply someone who enjoys doing art – (the proverbial ‘two-cents’ observation)?

‘Peculiars’ or ‘trash trolls’ – which I do occasionally; and which basically started in this library – are whimsical pieces that started as ‘kid doodles’ – and probably have something to do with – well, god knows.  I will say simply that my best subject matter is found by looking in the mirror.  However, I must believe there are things – call them ‘Peculiars’ if you want – that cause all of us to have days that seem like we are in ‘three quarters time’.

Johnny Hunt’s favorite artists include: Theodor Kittelsen, Antonio Gaudi, Norman Rockwell, and Andrew Wyeth. His oil painting is titled: “The Peculiar Seventeen Year Dance of the Cicadas”. A percentage of the profits are always donated to a non-profit agency of his choice (For example the ‘Make a Wish Foundation’, ‘Wounded Warriors Project’, or ‘The Nature Conservancy’).

Want to buy something you see on our walls? Artists contribute 20% of sales made during their exhibit to the Friends of the Arlington County Public Library, to help support Library programming.