Spotlight on PACE Faculty: Jane Hunt

Jane Hunt loves the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE). She also clearly loves painting. And she wants to help others enjoy it as much as she does. That makes her a great fit for the PACE faculty.

Last year was the first year Hunt attended PACE, and she says she felt at home. “I thought it was incredible, frankly. I usually get in trouble for talking about painting non-stop, and there I was encouraged to do so,” she says, laughing.

Jane Hunt

Hunt says she doesn’t plan on changing her painting process or palette for the Sonoran Desert. (PACE is scheduled for April 15-19 at Tucson’s El Conquistador Resort.) “The same rules apply wherever you go,” she says. “I use the same palette wherever I go — a fairly limited palette roughly based on the split primary palette.”

“Frozen Creek,” by Jane Hunt, oil, 16 x 20 in. Studio piece

She expects that one of the advantages PACE will have relocating in from Monterey to Tucson is a more contained painting area. In Monterey, the artists were all along the coast, so participants wishing to find or get help from an instructor had to look around a bit to find them. The grounds of the resort in Tucson offer plenty of room within a finite space for painting.

“Old Fisherman’s Wharf,” by Jane Hunt, oil, 8 x 10 in.

Hunt will be painting a demo. She says it will likely be “a bucolic scene,” and one with water in it. “People tend to get stumped by water, so whatever I do, I will address that,” she says. “I will stress the importance of value when painting water.”

“Western Field,” by Jane Hunt, oil, 8 x 10 in.

And throughout, Hunt will be looking out for the newbies. She remembers what it was like to start tackling the thrills and challenges of plein air painting. “I was pretty overwhelmed by the first 100 or so paintings I did, so I will try to give the main tips and demystify the process,” says the Colorado artist. “That will be my focus — to simplify the process and take it step by step.”