Jane Hunt's Familiar Dreamscapes
The artist's lush, dreamy landscapes evoke a connectedness to nature
"Winter Sky"
Oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inches
janehuntart.com, themissiongallery.com
THE ARTIST: Jane Hunt
KNOWN FOR: Lush, dreamy landscapes rendered with loose, impressionistic brushwork.
FROM ENGLAND TO COLORADO: “I originally moved out West to go to grad school, and I fell in love with Colorado and I stayed out here. I’m from the north of England, the Peak District, and it has a similar vibe with the wide expanses and the huge sky. I think of home as less a specific place now and more of a feeling.”
UNIVERSAL LANDSCAPES: “I like the mountains a lot; I find them comforting. They’re kind of a backdrop in all my paintings—I just like knowing they’re there. I’m interested in creating landscapes that are universal, that will appeal to people no matter where they live. I get people from all different countries saying, ‘Oh, that reminds me of my childhood.’ It’s not really a landscape; it’s almost like a dreamscape, something that’s connecting all of us.”
THE GREAT OUTDOORS: “Plein-air painting is the biggest inspiration—just being out there in the enormity of nature and being part of the scene. My work is about connectedness, and you really feel it when you’re standing out in nature. Whatever someone’s spiritual beliefs are, it’s difficult to be out there and not have some kind of feeling of being connected to something bigger than yourself.”
BENEATH THE SURFACE: “I paint really intuitively; that’s the way it flows out of me—it’s very loose; it’s almost aggressive the way I paint. The paintings are very peaceful, but if you look closely there’s a lot of gouging and scraping. I think that juxtaposition is interesting: There’s chaos within the peace, and vice versa. I think it adds extra layers of interest.”
NEXT: Plein Air Painters of New Mexico Masters Exhibition, Taos Art Museum at Fechin House, Taos, New Mexico, November 5, 2018, through March 31, 2019.
