The two art exhibits in West Windsor feature paintings of “older” artists. Suzanne Hunt, a longtime educator in the WW-P School District, has a solo show at West Windsor Library. West Windsor Arts Council has the “Full Circles/Painters Circle” group show opening on Saturday, June 15, with an opening reception and artist’s talk on Sunday, June 23.
The Full Circle show began with young artists, ages 13 to 33, showcasing their talents. The second part of this show features Painters Circle, a group of artists, all seniors, who live in West Windsor. The group has been meeting and working together on a monthly basis for seven years. They paint in a variety of media, and their work has been selected in many juried shows in the area. The artists include Lena Chao, Al Chasan, Barbara Cox, Barry Garelick, Dee Gozonsky, Judy Kaye, Rita Maniscalchi, Andrea Pitluk, Allison Singer, Mary Ann Weisser, and Peter Worms.
This show, on view to July 20, hopes to offer inspiration and encouragement to other seniors within the community so that they can be creatively productive at any age.
Suzanne Mahn Hunt’s watercolor paintings are on view in “A Few Of My Favorite Things” at the West Windsor Library through June 30. Though Hunt’s specialty is flowers, her paintings cover a wide spectrum of subjects including lighthouses, scenes from the Jersey shore, landscapes of the woods and lakes of the tri-state area, the changing seasons, and familiar local historic sites. “Using a transparent watercolor technique, I work to capture the natural beauty and distinctive lines and colors of the individual flowers and subjects I paint, as well as the special feeling a particular subject stirs within me,” she says.
Hunt began to teach at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School’s resource room in 1983. When Community Middle School opened in 1987, she became the learning consultant on the Child Study Team and served for 17 years.
“I was able to draw on my experience as a mainstream classroom teacher, resource room teacher, middle school educator, reading specialist and mother, working closely with students, teachers, the Child Study Team, and administrators to address and help solve the problems of students with learning differences,” she says. “One of my primary roles as a learning consultant was as educational diagnostician, testing students with special needs and analyzing those test results.”
Born and raised in Philadelphia, she graduated from Germantown High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from University of Pennsylvania’s School of Education, a master’s in education from Rutgers, and certification as a special education teacher from Trenton State College, and as a learning consultant from Rutgers. Though she began as a language arts and social studies teacher, she knew that she wanted to pursue a reading program to help special needs kids in her classroom. “As a teacher I used my artistic interest every day as a way to make learning more interesting and to motivate students,” says Hunt.
She became interested in art as a young girl. “I decorated my classroom teacher’s bulletin boards, made the Valentine boxes each year, and arranged flowers. My earliest watercolor endeavor was a sketchbook I created to earn my Girl Scout Art Badge when I was 12. I still have that sketch book, and enjoy looking at my paintings of my cat, my backyard, and the park where I played,” says Hunt.
“I decided that I would pursue my dream of painting in watercolor when my youngest son entered kindergarten,” she says. The family included her husband, Chase Hunt, a Presbyterian minister, and two sons, Robert and David. “One highlight of my time in Michigan was the winning of my first award for my painting of violets in my garden,” she says.
When the family moved to Princeton in 1979, she continued with her watercolor painting between the demands of a full time teaching career. “I joined the Garden State Watercolor Society, Hammonton Art Center, Chestertown River Arts, and the New Jersey Watercolor Society, all of which gave me inspiration to paint and opportunities to display my work,” says Hunt.
She has more time to paint now that she is retired and has a studio in Blawenberg. “Painting fills me with joy. I love to paint the flowers in my garden, the inspiring scenes at lake and the beach, specially treasured homes, and animals, children, and birds. I see something that captures my attention, and I feel I have to paint it. I am inspired to paint, and I find great happiness in sharing what I paint with others.”
Full Circle recognizes Hunt as one of the organizing artists who helped to start the West Windsor Arts Center. Her works were exhibited at the opening show and sale at MarketFair.
Art Exhibit, West Windsor Arts Council, 952 Alexander Road, West Windsor. Saturday, June 15, 4 to 6 p.m. First day for “Painter’s Circle: Full Circles,” a group exhibit featuring works by a group of artists, all seniors, who live in West Windsor. On view to July 20. Reception is Sunday, June 23, from 4 to 6 p.m. 609-716-1931.www.westwindsorarts.org.
Art Exhibit, West Windsor Library, 333 North Post Road. Saturday, Art exhibit featuring watercolors by Suzanne Hunt. On view to June 30. 609-275-8901. www.mcl.org.
