Steve Horan

Most of my paintings come from within. I do not refer to photographs, detailed drawings or plein air studies. At most, when unsure about how to begin a painting I do a series of thumbnail sketches to establish basic ideas about composition. Choosing color hues and values for a painting I am working on flow from memory and experience; not from reference to photographs or drawings. I look at my artistic talent as being analogous to a computer program. I look at my talent as being artistic programming that has the capability of enhancing raw data by inserting, decoding or modifying the data to better fit emerging strong, core ideas.

Horan’s education is eclectic. He began an early art education by playing with his father’s pastels when he was barely functional. He worked his way through college making hand painted signs for commercial stores in his Chicago neighborhood. At the University of Chicago he did graduate work in art history. During the Viet Nam war he was station in the Pentagon doing silk screening printing for the Army’s information unit. After his discharge from the Army he worked as a graphic designer for the Illinois Central Railroad. Shortly after his marriage, 38 years ago, he became a full-time artist and never looked back.