Local Artist's Exhibit Set to Open at New City Library

Art is timeless and for Robert Huntoon, art is a steady love in his life.

“In a couple of weeks I’ll be 84 and I’ve been (involved in art) for 50-60 years now,” said this Chestnut Ridge resident. “I always liked to draw things and paint. Just got into it.”

Huntoon’s art exhibit just finished its run upstairs in the Nanuet Library’s community room and is getting set to open on Wednesday at the New City Library.

“Up to now, I’ve only been at some small exhibits with a few things at a time. My art has been at exhibits that are put on by ACOR (Arts Council of Rockland), the Veterans Dog Tag Exhibit and the Golden Harvest, which is for seniors,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve done a big exhibit like this.”

Huntoon primarily creates paintings although there are prints, sketches and photographs as well in his collection. His more recent paintings are acrylics, abstracts, bright colors and blended forms.

“Some are on 24 x 36  and others are on 18 x 24 canvases, so they’re a fairly good size,” Huntoon said. “I’ve been using acrylics for the past 2-3 years primarily. Before that I was doing oils and some prints and so forth.”

He added that the large frames that are bright colored are the most recent works

“I’ve done most of those within the last 2 years. I’ve got some seascapes and landscapes that I’m doing now,” he said. “I like to work with colors and see how things pan out and contrast. To complete a painting … I’d say between developing the idea and making some sketches, I think probably a month, 2 months. Not steadily painting, that’s how long it takes to develop an idea.”