Rick Hunt - Art - Searching For The Motherlode

RICK HUNT (1955 - )
ART :::
Thank you, Rick....
A fitting way to start this piece on artist Rick Hunt. I was turned on to Rick when Angie Bowie started sharing his pieces casually on Facebook and I was immediately spellbound, and admittedly a bit overwhelemed, albeit in a very righteous way. Ricks art at first drew me in with lines that flowed endlessly while at the same time completing each image as an entity in its own. These images combine to produce a masterful work that tells a story. Take your time when you soak in his creations, they're not something to glide through. It's a study whether you like it or not, and well worth the time invested. He is constantly working, as he puts it, "I would rather create than talk about art..."
Rick was born and raised in New Hampshire, and apparently quite a test for his teachers as an artisticly gifted, free-spirited adolescent. Rather than elaborate, I think Rick's presskit says it best...
"To absorb a Rick Hunt piece is to jump onto the barreling momentum of a freight train or the relentless charge of a moving current. Electric and always in motion, the stream-of-consciousness color and energy of each draw- ing or painting is at first bewildering, and then insanely compelling. By the time you've gotten your bearings, you realize you've arrived in the middle of the conversation and are already wondering where the next turn will be.
Rick's early childhood interests in drawing and art, combined with an active and constantly curious imagination fueled an almost inevitable career as a painter and artist, much to his mother's despair. At school, his teachers were confounded and helpless in the face of his impish humor and insatiable need to turn perspectives upside down.
"I would draw Egyptian hieroglyphs on my exams," he chuckles. "Then I'd turn them in."
It was almost a foregone conclusion that an office job would be tantamount to purgatory. Taken under the wings of mentors such as Kenneth Westover and Claude Brusseau, Rick discovered a love of Picasso and intrigue with Dali, curiosity with Da Vinci and a querulous exasperation with Man Ray. His own artistic style - a mix of psychedelic madness and stream-of- consciousness humor, is both overwhelming and engaging while also keeping a healthy sense of whimsy and humor. Having worked as a substance abuse counselor and seen the plight of the less fortunate in society, that might seem a difficult prospect. But he points out that even the darkest experiences can have joy and color in them. "All of my life experience is food for my art," he explains. "Without dark, you can't havelight. Van Gogh knew that. That's why even his saddest paintings have hope in them."
With strong ties and ancestry to the Abenaki, Rick travels New England with his wife, as the "Laughing Couple", presenting and performing integrative Native storytelling and art to schools, museums, and other organizations. He also collaborated with fellow artist and writer Angie Bowie on Cat-Astrophe, an innovative children's story about an abandoned cat who finds a new home and makes a new family with fellow misfit adventurers.
"The story of Pooh Kitty is a story about finding value in yourself, and discovering that family isn't necessarily in who shares your blood," he says. "It's about who shares yourheart. And really, that's what a lot of my art is about. I'm always exploring and searching for connections."

From Rick's "partner in art-crime", Angie Bowie...
"I am sure to reach out to all my friends during the course of assembling IN YOUR EAR: DAVID BOWIE, AN APPRECIATION. There is Rick Hunt art, the photos from my collection and the prose from Annette Witheridge and the recall from me of everything that I can unlock from my mind's archives.
IN YOUR EAR shares the thoughts and memories of how that soundtrack was a call to a NEW way of thinking, new action, new enjoyment!
Then THE ADVENTURES OF LILY BOUNTY is just too much FUN. Michael and I are co-authors on this book and I am thrilled to have M.'s technical and engineering expertise to bend the drama and excitement of this first ACTION-PACKED ADVENTURE NOVEL.
RICK HUNT & I will present CAT'ASTROPHE 2 and RADIO PORTRAITS in the next 24 months. RICK'S ZANY & UNSTOPPABLE, MAGICAL VISIONS are also included in the BOWIE APPRECIATION IN YOUR EAR. THE ROLLER-COASTER of CREATIVITY never stops! WE are POSITIVE PROOF OF LIFE!!!!!!!!!
Hahahahahaaha
LOVE TO YOU ALL!"
Plans to tour America with AN EVENING with ANGIE BOWIE Angie Bowie are in the works. We will announce dates soon. Looking forward to seeing you."
And this piece would not be complete without the Rick Hunt timeline, chronicling his emergence as a beautiful artist, man and philanthropist; this is taken from his bio:
"At age 16, an internationally renowned artist, Ken Westhaver, took Rick under his wing and offered him private lessons in his local studio. Rick also spent half of his high school days attending Franconia College to further his art education with more formal training. During this time, Rick was sought out by many area bands and a local music hot spot, The Galleon, to create show posters as well as painting drum sets and guitars. He also began showing his work in sidewalk art shows.
At age 19, he ran a crisis intervention hotline in northern NH. After 5 years, he attended Leslie College (now University) for a BS degree in Psychology. He worked as a substance abuse therapist for many years, incorporating art therapy with his extensive clientele.
In 1979, Rick attended the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, MA. Here he studied Illustration and Fine Arts. Sharpening and defining his unique style even further, he learned the importance of Portfolio Presentation. As a freshman, Rick was selected by Art News Magazine, out of thousands of entries, to be one of 150 emerging new artists to show at Madison Square Garden at the International New Artists Show."
Since this time, Rick has participated in many group, gallery and solo shows. His work has been featured in several books, museum collections, and in private collections. More recently, Rick has worked with a variety of US (Birds of Paradox) and International bands and musicians (Chris Dair, Andy Hearn) to create cover art for singles and CD covers. His latest project has been illustrating a fund-raising coloring book in colaberation with Angie Bowie called Cat'astrophy.
In addition to all of this, Rick has also been a co-curator with the internationally recognized Native museum, The Abbe Museum, in Bar Harbor, Maine. Acting upon a dream he had one night in 2008, Rick contacted a friend and then curator, Rainey Bench. He described his dream of walking through a modern art gallery filled with contemporary art by Native American Artists. Mrs. Bench, excited by Rick's vision, took the idea to the Board of Directors. Equally excited by the idea, they secured funding from the National Endowment of the Arts to bring this dream to reality.
With Rick creating the theme and signature piece of the show, Twisted Path: Native American Artists Walking in Two Worlds was born. Not only did this open a new direction for the Abbe Museum, public response was so great that the six month show was extended to a full year! In addition, the Twisted Path Show is now a bi-annual event, bringing in and showcasing not only Native Artists of the Greater Northeast Region but nation-wide and has included Native Canadian artists as well.
The current incarnation, Twisted Path III: A Question of Balance opened February 8th, 2014 and remained open to the Public for a full year. Further, because of the new direction as a Contemporary rather than historic Native American museum, the Abbe is now affiliated with the Smithsonian!"
Rick Hunt has emerged as an internationally recognized and treasured artist without the usual trappings of the 'artiste de rigueur', he works consistently and continues to produce pieces and concepts that spur the imagination and take his fans to places they would otherwise not experience. Thank you Rick, don't stop!
Be sure and visit Rick and his wife Carolyn's website www.laughingcouple.com to view additional pieces and keep up with them on their journey together.
- Dennis Allen