Ray Hunter was born in Helena and raised in Billings, Montana. He graduated from Billings West High School in 1966, and from Eastern Montana College in 1971. While in college, he studied drawing from Ben Steele. He began painting, studying with local Billings artist Len Sundell.

Ray moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1976, living first in Oregon and moving to the Puget Sound area in 1979. He studied with artists Jerry Stitt and Deane Lemley, and he has participated in workshops with Charles Reid, William Ryan, Joe Bohler, and Alvaro Castagnet.

Ray worked a full-time job for 16 years in addition to trying to paint every day. In 1995, however, Ray's company closed when the owner retired, and he got the opportunity to become a professional artist, painting full-time. He has been a professional artist since then. In 1997, he and his family moved to Santa Barbara, California.

Ray works with a wide variety of subjects, from landscapes to flowers, from portraits to marine subjects. He especially enjoys painting boats. He is most comfortable working with bright, intense colors and textures. He also does some commission portrait work.

Ray has participated in and been shown in many Northwest and California shows. In 1992, he was the selected poster artist for the Edmonds Art Festival. In 1998, he was selected as an artist member of the California Art Club. His works have been viewed at the Edmonds Art Festival, the West Coast Paper Show, the Northwest Watercolor Society Show, the annual Frye Art Museum Exhibition, the Mercer Island Show, the annual miniatures and landscape show at the Howard-Mandville Gallery, the San Diego Watercolor Society International show, the Southwest Watercolor Association show, the California Watercolor Association International Exhibition, and the California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition. In 2003, he was inducted as a signature member of both the California Watercolor Association and the American Society of Marine Artists.

His work is regularly shown at the Waterhouse Gallery in Santa Barbara, the Pogan Gallery at Tahoe City, and Visions Gallery in Morro Bay.