The mind’s eye: Imagination, adventure, discovery part of art’s appeal for Angela Hunt

MOSES LAKE — Angela Hunt’s characters have a story to tell, and it’s up to the people looking at her paintings and drawings to decide what the story is.

“It (the painting or drawing) is for the viewer to connect with in their own way,” she said.

Viewers can bring their own experiences to her pictures, she said, and relate what’s going on to their own story. They can decide for themselves what the subjects are doing and thinking.

The cat with butterfly wings (or maybe they’re fairy wings), the bird – or is it a mouse? – with antlers, the horned creatures swirling around the painting titled “Haunted House.” The creatures could be on their way to anywhere.

“You look at it (the artwork), and it could go one way or the other,” she said.

The connection made with the viewer is one of the appealing things about making art, she said. But painting, drawing and art in general have always appealed to her.

“I’ve been drawing and painting my whole life. I love the stories you can tell with art,” she said.

Art allows her to express herself in unique ways, she said, and to follow her imagination. Adulthood imposes strictures, she said, taking away some of the feeling of adventure and discovery, and art is a way to tap into that spirit again.

“I like really whimsical subjects. Children’s illustrations are what I have in mind,” she said.

She takes inspiration for many of her current works from her own childhood.

“I think about the stories I read as a kid,” she said. “Weird characters and weird stuff.”

She likes to paint landscapes and buildings and put her characters in interesting environments, she said.

The vivid color palette of her current paintings – bright red and yellow, deep shades of green and brown, among others – come from what might seem like a surprising material.

“Watercolor is the main medium I use,” she said. “There are so many different styles you can do with it.”

Watercolor has the reputation of being a pastel medium, but it doesn’t have to be. And in Hunt’s paintings, it’s not.

“The colors are really bright and beautiful,” Hunt said.

The watercolor pigments are easily accessible, easy to use and remain usable for a long time, which makes them a good investment for an artist, she said.

“You can leave that paint on the palette for years and years,” she said.

Artists experiment with color, mixing different pigments to get just the color they want, a process called building a palette. Hunt said she’s built up hers over time, and that it’s been fun playing with colors and learning how different colors work together.

While her current paintings feature vivid colors and precise draftsmanship, she also likes to experiment with style, she said. A class at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center introduced her to a new technique, with bright florals and fruits in the foreground and dark backgrounds.

“The style is called negative painting,’” she said. “It was my COVID hobby.”

While experimentation is fun, it can be a little intimidating.

“It can be scary, taking chances with art. Because you don’t know where it can take you,” she said.

Hunt’s works will be featured in a show in the community gallery at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center, opening Nov. 5 and on display through Dec. 31. “Little Folks” features the characters she has created and the world they inhabit.

Putting together a show is a challenge on its own, she said. She had to come up with the theme and produce artworks to fit with it. She had to keep working, whether the inspiration was there or not, to produce enough works for the show. And she was surprised by the number of works needed to put on a show.

But it was both a fun experience and artistically valuable, she said. The show allowed her to try out new ideas and challenged her to tie all the works together.

“It’s really fun. I’m glad I did it,” she said.