George Hunt...

Born 1940 in rural Lake Charles, Louisiana, George Hunt uses oil paint on board to create not only a likeness of musicians he has known and admired, but a version of their music frozen in colored space.

He tells the Seattle Post Intelligencer, "I started painting in response to the music around me. I was a sickly child, and my grandmother gave me crayons to keep me busy. I began painting chickens and such, but ended up painting what I heard."

Mr. Hunt's formal education came from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where he received a BA degree in 1960. In the early sixties he studied under Hale Woodruff. "I've always liked Picasso's work," says George Hunt. He also learned a lot from artist such as Romare Bearden, Charles Alston, and Modigliani. The person who he feels had the most impact on his work although informally, was Dewitt Jordan.