Where ART Lives Magazine Volume 4 Number 4 | Page 38

Bob Coonts
How often do you paint? How many hours a week?
As I have gotten older I find that I am working less. I am thinking about it continually it seems
and solve some of my problems that way. I think that I paint about 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day. I feel
frustrated and a loss if I don’t. Sometimes it can be a lot more, if I am on a real roll.
How would you like to be remembered?
If I could be remembered at all I think it would be that, “Bob was a pretty creative person with
his art”. I have many styles and enjoy jumping around and not staying to one thing. I do sculpting
using found materials too so sometimes it is difficult to divide the time. Probably color is my
strong suit and the one thing that connects my art the most or at least that is how I see it.
How do you know when a painting is finished?
I don’t know that a painting is ever really finished. I do finish paintings but I also have seen some
or maybe a lot and when I look at it, often times I think, my gosh, why did I do that or why didn’t
I do that. Sometimes I even feel like I would like to take a brush to it and touch it up a little or
change some little thing.
Do you have a favorite painting that you have collected by another artist?
Yes, I have paintings from two people. My professor and teacher John Sorbie at Colorado State
University and the other person is Gene Hoffman. Both were great friends and mentors. Both are
deceased.
What is the most inspirational place you have visited to date?
For me the most inspirational place has been Barcelona and visiting Antoni Gaudi’s work and
especially the Sagrada Familia, the Cathedral that has been under construction for years. It is for
me the most beautiful art that I have ever seen. I think that he was a genius!
What brings you the most joy in your life?
I have been really fortunate in my life to do what it is that I do. I continue to learn and read and
study about art. I would like to continue doing what I do until I can’t.
If you could talk about art with a deceased master artist, who would it be?
I would love to spend a day with Gustav Klimt. I would like to ask about how and why he
transitioned from his very accomplished representational work to becoming one of the leaders
of the Secessionist Movement in Vienna starting in 1897. The Secessionist Movement not only en-
compassed all of the visual arts but included Architecture, Music, Medicine and Science. An awful
lot of forward thinking took place during that time.
Tell us something that few people know about you?
I like exploring and challenging myself to try new things, in style and technique but when I do
then I about panic when it is time to show the work. Then I am full of doubt. I have been doing
this long enough in my life that I think that shouldn’t bother me but it still does.
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