JENNIE: Meet Augusta artist Margaret Hunt

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)– Award-winning local artist, Margaret Hunt , is one of the artists featured right now in the Columbia County Artist Guild and CASE Exhibit at the Arts & Heritage Center of North Augusta.

She studied fine arts at the University of Georgia and Augusta State University and her work has been shown in collections around Europe and the United States. You may have seen some of her collection at the Columbia County Library in Evans over the summer.

JENNIE: You do lots and lots of character studies and you use different mediums. But you said that watercolor is one of your favorites.

Margaret Hunt: “Yeah, I think it’s the hardest one to do, myself. But, you know, I will paint with anything once. That’s what I tell people. I will try anything once and then decide! I think my favorite thing is the colors. And that’s why the pastels have been such bright, vibrant colors.”

JENNIE: How do you find subjects who you want to paint?

Margaret Hunt: Well, my friends and I are all hooked on Zoom portrait drawing. And three times a week, we draw with people from all over the world. And they’re free, so anybody can join them. And the zooms are based- – one’s out of Paris. Wednesday is in London and there’s one in Dundee, Scotland, on Thursday.

JENNIE: I love that. And so there’s a model there. And then anybody who zooms in is sketching or drawing or painting that model?

Margaret Hunt: “Right! We draw like 14 to 16 people in an hour. So they last the length of a song. 2 minutes. 5 minutes. And it really helps improve your portrait drawing. At first, you go like, “I cannot do this.” But then you’re like, “oh, wow, they look so good.”

JENNIE: And quilting is a big thing for you?

Margaret Hunt: “Yeah, I used to do a lot of art quilts. I don’t do them as much now. They’re things like people or I have one that’s like ten feet long that’s a coral reef with fish and coral. And then I have another one that toured all over the place called Lady Nolly, which was New Orleans rising from the floodwaters of Katrina.”

JENNIE: Next time, come back and you can draw a picture while we talk!

Margaret Hunt: “One day you may see me on River Walk or in Columbia County at the Farmers’ Market!”

You can see Margaret’s work for yourself at the Arts & Heritage Center in North Augusta through August 30th. She also has work at Art on Broad. And you can connect with her online here:

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