john horejs
Thirty-seven years ago, I bought my first set of oil paints and took a few painting lessons from Aunt Barbara, my mom's sister. The small town of Twin Falls, Idaho where I was born and raised is not exactly the art capital of the world. My first recollections of viewing paintings were at the art building of the Twin Falls County Fair each fall.
From those humble beginnings in art, I have been blessed to grow and progress, and since 1986 I have supported my wife and family of nine children solely from the sales of my oil paintings through galleries across the U.S. To me, simplicity is elegance. I paint exclusively in oils, using two brushes and seven colors plus white. My representational/impressionistic paintings are done on hand-made custom contemporary box canvases with no frames, which have become a trademark. I work on one painting at a time, as quickly as possible, so that I'm always working wet oil into wet oil paint. Most of my work is done in-studio using my own photographs of landscapes, gardens, clouds, and deserts I have visited as references.
I enjoy creating large artworks, many of which are 40”x50” and larger. My largest single panel painting so far is a 60” x 144” commission of the Boulder Mountains of Central Idaho for Key Bank in Boise, Idaho. My largest multi-panel work to date is a 75”x125” five-panel wildflower garden.
In a world that seems increasingly complex and unsettled, I strive through my paintings to convey grace, elegance, quality and beauty.
