Kurt Huntley

2D Woodburning Artist Kurt Huntley’s story is one of persistence, practice, patience, and perfecting a unique genre.

While his grandmother gave him a woodburning tool when he was only 8 years old and he picked it up here and there throughout the years, he didn’t find his passion for creating art until reaching retirement age.

Kurt describes his earlier work as “mostly soulless,” because he didn’t really enjoy it. Years later, he again found his woodburner in a drawer, plugged it in, found a nice piece of wood, and began creating work for fun and friends.

“I burned what I wanted to burn, not what I thought I could sell, and the joy was back,” he says. “I burned images of old cars, gas stations, drive-ins, but I wasn’t just burning, I was creating nostalgia.

“That’s what people had wanted all along. They wanted to be reminded of that time as a boy when they saw a deer in the woods. They wanted to remember grandma’s kitchen and to feel things they had forgotten,” he says.

From then on, Kurt says he never created an image that didn’t have a story, and his philosophy fits well with Indiana’s heritage.

“There is so much history, so much of that down home, back on the farm, goin’ to church, cookin’ with grandma type of goodness that permeates the soul and psyche of Hoosiers,” he says. “That simple lifestyle serves as the backdrop for my art, which brings a wholesome, peaceful, joyful flavor to my images.”

Now in retirement, Kurt is embarking on a new and exciting chapter. “My art has been latent for years, and as an emerging artist, I hope to reignite the spirit in my own soul and introduce this art form to a new generation.”