Bob Coonts

About the artist

Bob Coonts has been a professional artist for 60 years, graduating from Colorado State University in 1963. He worked as a designer and illustrator for 31 years and taught at Colorado State University for 35 years as an Affiliate Faculty Member. He has been painting since 1994.

Bob has been associated with galleries in Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico, Washington and Oregon. He enjoys pushing the boundaries in art. Bob is a colorist and contemporary artist. He loves experimenting and presenting his work in a different way. He can paint representational and naturalistic but chooses a different approach, especially with colour. For example, Bob might do a painting or drawing of a frog or grasshopper and use a lot of colour and put them on wheels. Why, well why not? Just to give it, the subject, a different perspective.

Bob Coonts paints abstractly too, almost as much as his other work. He always explores how he can put colour together and still represent the subject well. Bob belongs to an abstract painting group that call themselves “Driven to Abstraction”. The group is made up of 8 women and Bob. They are all abstract painters and yet they asked him to be a part of the group.

Artwork Themes & Subject Matter

Colors, as used by the Fauvists, the challenge of composition and the excitement of discovery impacts Bob’s work and style. Animals, plants, landscapes and people provide a wealth of subject matter. Combining a sense of warmth, graceful movements and detail give release to a style bordering on abstract by reflecting a true image. Bob Coonts has developed a style that is unique to him.

Bob’s work is stylized, often whimsical, always colorful, and strong in design and composition. He also works on figurative images and images that are strictly abstract or non objective. His paintings can evoke an emotional response from the viewer. An art critic once suggested that his art could be described as Abstract Surrealism. Mythology, Nature, Native American, Celtic, Asian, Middle Eastern, Greek and Roman art are strong influences his work.

Bob Coonts’ work also reflects a Gustave Klimt feel as well as influences from Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Juan Miro and the modern day Chuck Close. He uses geometric shapes, circles, triangles, squares and other forms, such as arrows and concentric circles. The arrow, used by early Native Americans in many of their animal images found on pottery and petroglyphs, represents the heart line. The heart line was believed to be the strength, source, and breath of life for a particular animal.

Bob uses the arrow as a design element, and feels that it helps give his paintings a sense of movement as well as suggesting the four directions. Above all, he tries to create something unique, fascinating to look at, and something that brings joy in doing.

Press

Bob Coont’s works have been published in notable magazines, online sources, books including  Communications Arts, Novum Gebrauchsgraphik [Czechoslovakia], Inside Out, Gold Mustang [Russia], and Heye Jigsaw Puzzles [Germany].

Upcoming Exhibitions

CV

Education

1963 BA Degree Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. United States

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023

Posters and Paintings, Permanent Installation at the Colorado State University SPUR Campus at the National Western Stock Show facilities , Denver, CO. United States

2022

Poster exhibition by Bob Coonts , Nancy Richardson Design Center, Colorado State University, CO. United States

See also

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PAINTINGFIGURATIVE ARTNUDE ARTOILPORTRAITUREREALISM

Liz Gridley

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023

Exhibition of Six Graphic Designers, Colorado State University Hatton Gallery in the Art Department, Fort Collins, CO. United States

Western Spirit Show, Old West Museum, Cheyenne, WY. United States

3 Square Art Color Show, 3 Square Art Gallery, Fort Collins, CO. United States

3 Square Art Realism Show, 3 Square Art Gallery, Fort Collins, CO. United States

Mask Exhibit, Museum of Art, Fort Collins, CO. United States