Our Editor, Phil Jordan, had the pleasure
to visit Peter’s studio:
“I’m
consistent,”
says
Middletown
Springs resident, Peter Huntoon. “I work
like a dog. I like to underpromise and
overperform. Sometimes I’m up at 4:00
a.m. to just to finish a painting.” In fact, Pe-
ter Huntoon is up at 4:00 a.m. almost every
morning to paint or else to tend to tasks,
simply because when he’s not painting, it
seems he’s either framing paintings, pack-
ing them up for shipping, going to the post
office to mail them away to buyers, or else
tending to his website. Those tasks (he says
painting consumes about 20-30% of his
time) are all necessary components of his
passion for painting, something he’s been
engaged in for 30 years, and engaged in as
a full-time vocation since he finally decided
to leave his job six years ago.
“I left my day job in 2013,” he explains.
“I figured I had a chance as an artist, so I
thought up a job description for myself:
Load up your truck with paint and brush-
es and go explore—and paint.” Almost
every one of Peter’s paintings is auc-
tioned off by him, with a set starting price,
although he does do commissioned paint-
ings. “I’m thankfully at a place where I can
refuse [to take on] a commission if I
want to,” he explains. As one looks about
Peter’s tidy, well-lit studio and his many
paintings—a feast of colors and varied
renditions of Vermont landscapes, town-
scapes, barns and covered bridges that call
out to the eyes—it’s hard to reconcile the
finesse of Peter’s skill with the brush with
his humble demeanor: “I’m just making
a living By
doing
what
I love,” he says with a
Tyler
Stemerman
shrug. “Sharing my love of Vermont is the
end game.”
76
magazine
72 VERMONT
VERMONT
Magazine
FALL 2019
PETERHUNTOON.COM
“Fields of Gold”