Jimmy Dean Horn

I've been a full time artist for the past 5 years. I was doing and making what ever I felt like, but recently focusing on my new public studio/gallery space and curating my work a bit more. 

Ive been making art in some form or another forever.  Midschool it was doodles on desks, chalkboards, school books, skateboards, shoes, backpacks, whatever could receive a mark. Highschool it elevated, expanded, evolved? to graffiti and art for all the local bands.  Art being show posters, merch, album art.  At this time I also got my first 'real' job at mcdonalds and had zero clue what my future looked like.  I was also working with my pop when he had visitation with his general contracting business. So flipping burgers, and doing home renovations. I had a highschool art teacher tell me, hey you could go to school for this and be big time and make art for musicians and get paid big bucks for it, she said go to this school and you'll make it happen. so i went to that school, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn NY. I studied graphic design as the teacher suggested. I learned a ton and became a better artist, and added designer to tag. 

During collage I did a few more pieces for local bands and bands I worked with in highschool who continued to push their art. I got a part time job at the school gym, where i maintained and fixed the equipment and watched the check in desk. Once all the equipment was fixed, i got bored and quit. and got a job with a local photo studio. Razorback Studios in manhattan. I worked there sophmore to senior year of college. worked up from an intern to photographers assistant while there. They even tempted me with quitting college and becoming a photographer, and partner at the studio. (maybe I should have taken that off ramp, those two owners are both living in Portgual owning their homes on nice plots near the beach and not far from the city.) oh well. I chose to stick college out, got an overlapping part time job, end of junior year as a junior graphic designer with one of my professors at his design firm. Half way thru senior year, i left razor back to focus on the Design job and Senior projects. Those projects got accepted in to the senior show, where i was hired on the spot by Ogivly NYC. A big time big name ad agency. I then bounced around the Ad and Design agency nyc world for about 8 years, slowly losing my mind. Yes it was 'creative' but not enough. I searched for an outlet. That was motorcycles, wanting to really use my hands again, using a keyboard and mouse doesnt count, nor does a wacom tablet. I bought a 1971 cl350, hoping to build something cool from it, but it was a major pos and it ended up teaching about basic vintage machine ownership. I rode it till the engine broke, and the issues it needed fixing were out of my abilities, and pocket depth. the next motorcycle came in to my life and i did a half assed build, which lead to another and another, soon other builders around the country took notice. 

Having a blog really helped get the word out (blogs were all the rage at that time). I was invited to do a build for the greasy dozen motorcycle show. I built a sweet little cafe racer from a sportster. Anyway, back to the ad world which i was still in during the day time. I could see a shift in the future, but didn't have eyes or mind on it yet. My time was either spent at work at the desk, or at the garage building motorcycles, and at one point, a race car. My focus began to shift to the motors. And I realized what i wanted was unsustainable in nyc, and some issues with the ad world. I decided I needed to escape. I sold a motorcycle, bought a van, and road tripped the country with my girlfriend and dogs. We ended up in equally expensive but eternally sunny Los Angeles. 

Needed work I turned to some old creative directors and work freelance fulltime for about a year, helping my wife paint murals when i could, and still f-ing around with motorcycles. Looking for an out, I turned to my lady and said lets try and get some local murals or signage/design work. We walked the local streets and popped in to every single business, cool or not, and spoke to the owner if we could, manager if not. I pitched paint, murals, logos, menu design, signage, merch, whatever it looked like we could do and they might need or want. We got one job, with a local coffee shop Coffee Coffee, it was owned by a LA chopper dude. Over the next 8 years we would do a handful of jobs for this cat, none for his business, mostly painting chopper board build plaques. After the first painting i did for him, he connected me with a guy who owned a small chopper magazine who needed help. I ended up working for that guy for just over 5 years till he realized he could just pay people with exposure and i was fired. But during those 5 years I was able to really flex some art and design muscles that didn't get used with the Ad agencies. 

I got back in printmaking heavy. And by the time he let me go, I had started on the juried art market circuit. At the peak I was doing 6 shows/market a year winning awards and selling work. I was still taking the occasional ad or design job but really starting to limit the work to stuff that interested me, or used a skill I was focusing on, or was connected to a community I was apart of. I started hearing 'man this really cool, i wish it was on a shirt', over and over. Eventually I listened and began working with textiles, mostly just wall hangers, sized so that if you wanted to you could stitched to the back of your jacket. I then connected with a jacket maker, who gave me sheets of fabric and said just do what you do, and ill do what i do. I delivered him 10 printed tapestries that he cut up and up and sewed in to jackets. They all sold. But they sold for prices that non of my homies could afford, so i looked for an option that could lower the cost. I started printing on thrifted or second hand pieces of clothing, premade stuff. This evolved in to what it is now. 

I opened my public studio in Santa Fe New Mex at the start of 2024, and shortly after had my debut fashion show. Ive begun really limiting the art markets now and am now focusing on my studio/gallery. Currently still using all those skills I acquired along this path. Life is expensive so as much as I can do myself I do myself, for the rest I lean on community first before digging in to the wallet to throw money at the problem. I am currently using the magazine and design skills to create a fat lookbook for the studio. It will show the work from last year and some new stuff. 

I've had pieces walk the runway, red carpet, and have had musicans wear it on stage. Each of those will be sections in this lookbook. And while that is being made, I will be painting a mural for a local chopper shop in trade for some work I dont want to do my bikes. I will also be create commissions for a few more musicians (and some rich clients that really help keep the lights), and I will contiune to push and evolve my work. 

Any Advice?

Keep pushing. Build a community. Listen to people who like your work. Bend but don't break. 

Links

Running Horse Studios
https://runninghorsestudio.square.site/

https://www.instagram.com/runninghorsestudio/