‘Celebrating the Seasons,” an exhibit of watercolors by Suzanne Hunt, is on view at West Windsor Library through Tuesday, September 30. A former teacher in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District, she was also instrumental in the creation of the West Windsor Arts Center. There will be an artist’s reception on Saturday, September 20, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Although 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.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Hunt graduated from Germantown High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from the 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 includes her husband, Chase Hunt, a Presbyterian minister, and two sons, Robert and David.
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.
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.”
Hunt’s solo shows include the Nassau Club and the Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, and the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. She has exhibited and received awards in numerous juried and member shows, including the Princeton Arts Council, Terhune Orchards, Mercer County and New Jersey Senior Arts Shows, Garden State Watercolor Society, Hammonton Arts Center, Chestertown River Arts, and the Silver Bay Association. She has demonstrated watercolor painting at Prallsville Mill in Stockton, and the D & R Greenway Land Trust in Princeton. Hunt’s artwork is included in public and private collections throughout New Jersey and New York, as well as in Scotland, Germany, Michigan, California, and Nebraska.
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.”
Art Exhibit, West Windsor Library, 333 North Post Road, 609-799-0462. www.mcl.org. Artist’s reception for “Celebrating the Seasons,” an exhibit of watercolors by Suzanne Hunt. Saturday, September 20, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
